Making Out-Of-This-World Cookie Shapes
You’ve made the perfect batch of cookie dough. You’ve got your dough rolled flat onto your working space. You’re left with a billion ideas, but zero clue of where to start. It's now or never! What should you turn it into? When was the last time you dusted off those cookie cutters?! That’s just the tip of the icing-berg. This week we’re going to talk about turning a basic cookie cutter or any kitchenware into a delicious plate of cookies!
Shapes:
Cookies are our canvas for decorating, and shape is integral to that canvas! We depend on shapes to make cookies recognizable and to give us space to decorate. But how do we make those shapes? We can use cookie cutters, or even objects in our kitchen!
Cookie Cutters:
Cookie cutters come in all different shapes, sizes, and packages. Most stores sell cookie cutters in packs, where you can buy similarly themed cookie cutters together. You might have a basic shape pack with stars, circles, triangles, and squares. Or you may have a pack that follows a theme. The benefit of using a cookie cutter is that each shape you make will be uniform in both shape and size!
Kitchenware:
If you don’t have any cookie cutters, you can also use kitchenware to create shapes! For example, the rims of cups can make great circles, or small bowls can make good stencils to trace around.
Another tool that we can’t forget are knives! Use a knife to make straight lines to complete shapes, or even make a shape of your own! If you end up with extra dough that you do not want attached to your shape, knives are also a less messy way to fix little mistakes!
Little Tips and Tricks:
Some shapes take up a lot of space…and a lot of dough! To save yourself time and money on making an extra batch of cookie dough, reuse as much of your scraps as possible. For example, you’ve just cut out a ton of circles and have surrounding dough left over from each circle, but not enough to cut another one out. If you combine all of this excess dough and re-roll it, chances are…you can make a few more cookies out of your dough and have less to scrap!
What if you’ve already baked your cookies and have an addition to make? Bake another piece, grab some icing (make sure it dries with a cement-like texture) and use the icing to glue those pieces together (like a Gingerbread house)!
Our final bite of advice…Be bold, be big, and experiment! If your cookie dough isn’t shaping the way you’d like, get out the rolling pin, and try again. The cookie-cutting stage is a great time to learn new techniques and brainstorm new ideas. Most importantly, it’s a great way to have fun!
Shaping a Space Party:
Now that we’ve got our thinking cap on, let’s get back to brainstorming! We’ve got the perfect idea for you! With just a circular tool, you can create an out-of-this world plate of space themed cookies. Perfect for a kids birthday party, a lesson on the solar system, or for a nerd-out moment about the milky way!
Just One or Two Shapes:
Moon phases: With just the rim of a cup, or a circle cookie cutter, you can make every phase of the moon possible! For crescent or waning moons, make a circle first, then use the circular shape to cut pieces out of the circle. For a half moon, use a knife to split your original circle in half. After baking, use icing to add textures and shading to resemble moon craters and light from the sun.
Planets: Use any size of small bowl, rim of a cup, or a circular cookie cutter to make any planets! You can even mix sizes of items to create a scaled version of the solar system. After baking, use icing to create all of your favorite planets!
Planet Rings: Make one big circle out of a small bowl (or big cookie cutter), then use a smaller circle to cut out the insides! After baking, use icing to connect to match your ring with your planet.
Flying Saucer: Are you an alien believer? Combine circles and half circles to make a flying saucer! After baking, use icing to decorate your ship with mini alien gadgets, or add aliens inside of windows!
We hope that you have enjoyed getting creative with cookie cutters as much as we have. Subscribe to Well Hello Cookie and follow our socials to say hello to more tips on how to make fun cookies!
