How to Use Fish Cookie Cutters to Make Awesome Cookies

How to Use Fish Cookie Cutters to Make Awesome Cookies

What sparks pure joy more than a big jar filled with freshly baked cookies? While colorful sugar cookies are mostly associated with special occasions, they’re pretty easy to make, which can turn out to be a lovely family activity at any given time. Of course, cookies are known worldwide, they range from the Christmas gingerbread man to the classic, chewy chocolate-chip cookies. And let's not forget the ever-so-delightful nic nac koekjes with their unique flavor and crumbly texture, they add a wonderful variety to any cookie platter! But today, we’ll take a look at a very special kind: adorable and delicious fish cookies!

[ photo: unsplash.com by nadya spetnitskaya ]

Preparing the dough

When you have the right kind of cookie cutters, you have room to experiment with the kind of dough you’ll want to use. But if you or your helpers around the kitchen are beginners in baking, even a very basic workable dough will yield great results.

You can find some amazing recipes online for classic rolled sugar cookie dough, and take it from there. Once you have the basic ingredients ready, you can put them together according to instructions, and have the base that will soon turn into gorgeous bits of fish-shaped cookies!

Rolling out

An important step to get well-shaped cookies with the right consistency is to divide your dough into balls, wrap them up, and chill them in the fridge for at least half an hour. Once the chilling process is done, you can take the separated balls of dough one at a time, place them on a lightly floured, cool working surface, and roll them out with a rolling pin to be about ⅛-inch thick.

[ photo: pixabay.com by skitterphoto ]

Time for cookie cutters 

Now begins the fun part! Dip your fish cookie cutters in flour before each cut to get sharp and defined edges, then press straight down, starting from the center and working towards the edges of the dough. Keep the cuts close to one another to leave as little extra scraps as possible. But if you end up having too much scrap dough—and if you can resist the urge to eat it on the spot—you can always gather it up and re-roll.

As for what kind of cookie cutters to buy for the best results, it’s pretty much a matter of personal taste. The expert team at fishcookiecutter.com has tried out many different types on the market and listed their favorites on their website, so you can start by checking it out to spare yourself some trials and errors. 

In general, though, plastic cookie cutters are on the cheaper side and they make it easier to remove dough from small details thanks to their flexibility; while stainless steel ones are sturdier and they provide you with clean and easy cuts. No matter which kind you go for, just make sure your cookie cutters are deep enough so that you can remove them from the dough without having to pry them out.

Into the oven

While transferring your cookies onto the cool pan, you can leave the cookie cutters in the dough, and slide a thin spatula under the cutouts to place them on the pan. You can remove the cookie cutters once all the cutouts safely take their place on the pan; this way, you won’t risk messing up those gorgeous shapes during the transfer.

The golden rule of baking cookies is to preheat your oven to the instructed degree. When your oven’s temperature is right and your pretty school of fish are all placed in the middle rack, don’t forget to watch the clock—or better yet, set an alarm for the instructed amount of time. 

As the edges of your cookies start to turn golden, take them out of the oven and let them cool for a few minutes before carefully placing them on a cooling rack in a single layer.

[ photo: pexels.com by luis quintero ]

After your fish cookies have cooled completely, you can get creative and decorate them with colorful icing, candies and sprinkles. You can freeze the baked cookies before the icing step to have a good batch at hand whenever you’re short on time, or even have a cookie decorating activity filled with fun and imagination of the young members of the family. The results will definitely be worth the effort, and those delicious fish cookies will surely disappear earlier than expected!