Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

cookie cutter

 
Dictionary: cookie cutter

n.
A device for cutting flattened cookie dough into shapes before baking.


Search unanswered questions...
Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics
Wordsmith Words: cookie-cutter
Top

(KOOK-ee kuht-uhr)

adjective
Mass-produced; identical; unimaginative; lacking individuality.

Etymology
After a tool used to cut out cookie dough in various shapes

-cutter

Usage
"On the other side of the tracks is a long line of cookie-cutter bungalows stretching as far as the eye can see." — Marie Wadden; Where Tragedy Falls Off Canada's Map; Toronto Star (Canada); Nov. 18, 2006.


A metal or plastic device used to cut decorative shapes out of dough that has been rolled flat. Cookie cutters are available singly or in sets. Dipping a cookie cutter into flour or granulated sugar will prevent it from sticking to soft doughs. A rolling cookie cutter has a wooden handle at the end of which is a metal or plastic cylinder marked with raised designs. When the cutter is rolled across the dough, it cuts a jigsaw-puzzle pattern of differently shaped cookies without any wasted dough.

Wikipedia: Cookie cutter
Top
Some simple cutout cookie cutters

A cookie cutter is a tool to cut out cookie dough in a particular shape. They are often used for seasonal occasions when well-known decorative shapes are desired, or for large batches of cookies where simplicity and uniformity are required. Cookie cutters have also been used for, among other uses, cutting and shaping tea sandwiches.

Contents

Types & Variations

  • Cutout: Most commonly made of copper, tin, stainless steel, aluminum, or plastic. Cutouts are the simplest of the cookie cutters; the cutter is pressed into cookie dough that has been rolled flat to produce the shape of the cutter's outline.
  • Detail imprint: Commonly made of copper, tin, or plastic. Detail imprints are similar to cutout cookie cutters, except that detail imprints also mark the surface of the dough.
  • Cookie mold: Usually made of wood, ceramic, or plastic. Springerle molds are the oldest examples of such. A cookie mold typically has an ornate design debossed into the surface; the mold is pressed into the cookie dough to produce an embossed design.
  • Cookie press: Automated or hand operated press used to make large batches of cookies quickly. The cookie dough is extruded onto the baking sheet in ornate shapes that would otherwise be too difficult or time-consuming to create by hand.

Alternate definition

"Cookie cutter," when used as an adjective, is defined as a "lack of originality or distinction" [1], a reference to the uniformity that results from the use of a cookie cutter.

References

  1. ^ "Definition of cookie-cutter". Merriam Webster Online Dictionary. 2008. http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/cookie%20cutter. Retrieved 2008-09-09. 

See also


Shopping: cookie cutter
Top
 
 

 

Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wordsmith Words. © 2009 Wordsmith.org. All rights reserved.  Read more
Food Lover's Companion. Food Lover's Companion. Copyright © 2001 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Cookie cutter" Read more

 

Mentioned in