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One of my most common kitchen gadgets is small, costs less than $ 25, and consists of nearly a dozen nest pieces, and fits in the flattest drawer. Any ideas? I’m talking about my cookie cutter.
In addition to biscuits, I also use this cutter for punching out dumpling packaging, cannoli rounds, mini patties, ravioli and much more. In fact, I use my set several times a day. How do you ask Let’s start with breakfast.
Nothing says good morning like a sandwich. I grease the inside edge of a large cookie cutter, put it in my pan, drop a little butter to sizzle, and then crack an egg into the mold. The cookie cutter gives me a perfectly round fried egg that is ready for breakfast every time. And since the biscuit cutter sets come in many sizes, you can specify exactly how big your fried egg is, which is cut to the specific bread (use the little guy for a biscuit Sammy and the largest, maybe even with two pickled eggs there for a bagel sandwich).
I’m a professional cook and baker, so “working” often means making a cake. Once I have a baked, filled, stacked, and frozen masterpiece, it’s time to decorate. I’ll use the little cookie cutters as a stamp around the side of the frosted cake to make pattern stencils, then I’ll whistle frosting over the circle patterns. Or sometimes I gently press the little knives into the frosting and then fill them up with a thin, even layer of sprinkles. Once removed, I have sparkling polka dots!
I have a toddler so lunch break must be fun. I refuse to buy those crusted, pre-made sandwiches at the grocery store, but crust aversion is real. Sometimes I make a sandwich for my daughter and then use my handy cookie cutters to cut out circles of different sizes. Speaking of food fun, I’ve also used these little guys as napkin rings for dinner parties (remember when we had people in our homes to eat together, a long time ago?).
Making pasta is a pretty big part of my job (and my life, if I’m honest). Without my cookie cutters, I couldn’t make many of my handcrafted shapes. Not only do I cut ravioli, I also shape them with cookie cutters. I put my filling on a thinly rolled sheet of pasta dough and then cover it with a second sheet. I turn a medium-sized cookie cutter over so the blunt end of the cutter is touching my dough and slide it around the filling in a circular motion to gently bring it into a narrow mound and expel extra air. Then I cut out each raviolo with a larger cookie cutter.
Why am I doing this? Because I’m obsessed with handmade pasta. But also because you have so much more freedom to customize – you don’t have to stay within the confines of one ravioli maker mold. When you have a simple set of nested cookie cutters, you can make both the filling mound and the finished product any size you want! I also use my cookie cutters to cut different sized circles for tortellini (small) and cappellacci (larger). This list could go on and on, but you get what it is about.
Cookie cutters are also cookie heroes. It is wonderful to be able to cut out biscuits of any size that can be adjusted to within an inch with a few sentences. The different sizes of tailors are especially helpful when making Linzer biscuits or filled biscuits with small punched out windows.
And then of course there are donuts. I mean, what would a weekend morning be without homemade donuts? As you’d guess, cookie cutters cut the perfect donuts … and holes!
I could go on here, too, but I think I’ve made my point clear. Maybe you have seen cookie cutters in stores and online? Maybe you passed them on because they didn’t look like you needed them? Maybe I just convinced you differently?
What are some of your most versatile kitchen gadgets? Tell us in the comments below!