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With the cookie baking season upon us I broke out the cookie cutters for sugar cookies, however almost all of them are pretty deformed or broken (from moving houses). I haven't bought any cutters in a long time and didn't realize how expensive they've gotten. Are there any cheap ones out there that are worth buying or should I just wait until after Christmas, when they all go on sale? Or should i just use an empty tuna can and make a bunch of circles?

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Well, you see what happens with cheap ones. I look at cookie cutters as a very rare purchase, so don't mind if they're more expensive than seems reasonable, and I don't skimp on quality. Amortized over the life of the cutter, the prices aren't so bad. – bikeboy389 Dec 16 '10 at 15:38
You could make your own to get you through this holiday baking season - google will give you plenty of tutorials. Something cheap and easy to bend would probably be good enough for the short-term, or you could get some decent sheet metal from a hobby store (or hardware store) for more durability. – Jefromi♦ Dec 16 '10 at 16:08
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If you're going to make circles, you could just roll the dough into a tube shape and slice off some circles. – Mr. Shiny and New 安宇 Dec 16 '10 at 19:14

5 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

I think using an empty can is a brilliant, frugal idea...but if you want something a bit more exciting, chain stores like Bed Bath & Beyond sell decent tubs of cookie cutters. If you have one of those mailer coupons, you can get a ridiculous amount (like a pack of 100) for less than $20.

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Empty tuna cans (cleaned and de-burred of course) also make pretty good round-fried-egg-makers for egg-on-a-bun type things! – sdg Dec 17 '10 at 14:15
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found that tub at BB&B this weekend, Thanks – boxed-dinners Dec 20 '10 at 18:46
up vote 0 down vote

FWIW - I find using tuna cans easy - or just roll your (refrigerated) cookie dough into a log, and cut it in slices for consistent sizes.

Here is something I recently picked up from Amazon - custom cookie cutters - so for under $20 you can make custom shapes without having to buy several different sets to get the shapes you need!

http://www.amazon.com/International-Design-Your-Cookie-Cutter/dp/B002WC8Y3O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1292618629&sr=8-1

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up vote 1 down vote

You can get bags of cheap plastic cutters from toy shops, they are normally used for PlayDoh, but work fine for cookies too!

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up vote 1 down vote

I got a set of Ateco cutters this year, and since my daughter, now 5, loves to bake with me they get a lot of use. The set I got nestles, it is a set of concentric circles, and stores back in the can. It was about $15 and my daughter loves the smaller ones, she uses them to make cookies for her animal friends and dolls.

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up vote 2 down vote

From a price for utility perspective, I prefer plastic cookie cutters. Metal ones rust and get bent out of shape so very easily. (If you can wait just over a week, Christmas themed cookie cutters should be should be pretty cheap.)

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