What A Spook-tacular Set of Cookie Cutters!
Written: May 29 '03 (Updated Jun 01 '08)
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Pros: Ten cool Halloween designs, easy to clean and use, Halloween colors!
Cons: Some designs are intricate and need a little extra attention when pressing them out.
The Bottom Line: Looking for a great set of Halloween cookie cutters? Look no further than the Wilton Spooky Cookie Cutter Set.
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| Freak369's Full Review: Wilton Spooky Cookie Cutter Set 2304-9210 |
It’s no secret that Halloween is one of my favorite holidays so I have a lot of cake and Jell-O molds, sprinkles for cupcakes, cookie cutters and other assorted bakeware. When I picked up the Wilton Spooky Cookie Cutter Set a few years ago I wasn’t sure how they would work out, they looked like some of the others that I had in my collection but the insides weren’t very deep so I knew I would have to play around with the thickness of the dough so that there would be enough inside it to hold the impression but not too much – or else you run the risk of it getting puffy and losing the shape. It took me one batch of cookie dough [simple sugar cookie recipe] to get the thickness right and after I got that taken care of it was all a matter of making sure that the inside of the cutters were floured properly and I was putting an even amount of pressure on them.
Wilton Spooky Cookie Cutter Set
These are great cutters to have around the house if you have kinds that like to help bake cookies. I have a lot of metal cutters that I won’t let the kids use because I am worried that they’ll end up cutting themselves on the edges or hurting themselves. I know, there’s not much of a chance of that happening but I’d rather have them work with the plastic ones since they are smaller and there isn’t a chance of them getting bent out of shape. When I purchased this set it was packaged in a plastic tube, not exactly something that will last after one season but at least you get to check out the designs of the cutters before you make your purchase. I have a lot of Wilton items in my kitchen and these are exactly what you would expect from the Wilton name. I’ve yet to have any of them break or crack and my boys aren’t exactly the gentlest creatures on the planet. The only thing that you need to keep in mind is that these need to be thoroughly cleaned after you use them. Soaking them in the sink and rinsing them off isn’t enough. I clean mine with a toothbrush to make sure that there isn’t any dough in the crevices because once it dried it’s pretty hard to get it out of the small spaces.
What You Get …
There are a total of ten cookie cutters in this set you you’ll have a lot of different choices when it comes time to make your tasty treats. You get two word cutters – “boo” and “eek”, these work best if you have a nice stiff sugar cookie or shortbread dough. Decorating these is a little tricky unless you use a stiff icing that will dry completely, this way you can pipe the letters back on to the cookie so that you can read the words. The witch and spider have the most amount of detail so of course these are the trickiest to work with. You have to make sure that you really flour the inside of these before you press them into the dough. I keep a basting brush in the kitchen [hidden of course] to make sure that I get a nice dusting of flour inside the cutter. Make sure you give it a good solid tap on the counter and you should be set. Frankenstein and the two pumpkins cutters are pretty easy to work with however getting them off counter and on to the cookie sheet might stretch out the design a little. You can use a silpat to work on but the ones I own are too small to use when I am making these cookies.
The skull, bat and ghost are the easiest to work with and the ones that I use the most during the Halloween season. It might take you a little while to get the pressure right but after that, these cutters will yield some spooktacular looking cookies. With the skull / skeleton head it’s pretty important that it gets transferred to the cookie sheet with the least amount of handling so that the shape doesn’t get distorted. The same care should be taken with the witch, she has a pretty cute face but if the dough gets handled too much after you press out the cookie, she starts to look pretty gruesome. If your first few batches don’t turn out great, don’t give up on these, it take a little time to get the pressure, depth of the dough and consistency but after you work out the kinks you’ll have a ball with these.
On the back of the cardboard insert there is a recipe for a basic sugar cookie. I tried the recipe and, well, they turned out rather dry and the cookie crumbled. I suggest a basic sugar cookie recipe – especially if you will be adding sugar sprinkles to the cookies prior to baking. Also in the back of the insert you’ll find the usually Wilton information, phone number and cleaning instructions. I think the plastic container lasted a week before it was thoroughly dented and falling apart. I really think it was designed for looks, not practicality.
Things To Know
Don’t get stuck with boring Halloween cookies! You can add a small amount of food coloring to your dough to give them a little color. I like to make black bat cookies, red witches and orange ‘boo’ and ‘eek’ cookies but this means you really have to watch them carefully when you are baking them or else the cookies might bake a little too long and you’ll end up with funky looking cookies. If you want to ice these with a powered sugar based icing you have to make sure that they are completely cooled off before you start. Ice them and let them air dry completely then you ca use prepackaged icing to accent them or make your own and apply it using a plastic sandwich baggie with a small hole cut in the corner. This is easier than using cloth piping bags and makes for a quicker clean up.
These are also great for kid’s crafts! They can use them for tracing out designs for cards or spooky pictures and since these retail at about $3.00 to $4.00, you can pick up an extra set for them to use so you won’t have to worry about scrubbing marker off of the sides. These work great with Play-Doh as well but since the designs are a little detailed on a few of them you might want to show them how to dust the inside of them with flour or corn starch. If they plan on reusing the Play-Doh then the flour or cornstarch wouldn’t be a great idea. We tried putting a layer of plastic wrap over the Play-Doh and then pressing the cutters into it and it worked but some of the detail was lost.
If you really want to get into the season, you can make cookie-sicles but purchasing some cardboard sticks used for making sucker and lollipops and press them into the backs of the cookies before they cool off. This takes a little bit of practice but if you are going to decorate them or “go all out”, this makes a great way to show them off or give them as inexpensive gifts. If you don’t want to press them into the backs of the cookies you can make a batch of icing and pipe out a thick line on the back of the cookie, allow it to set for about three minutes then press the stick into the icing. This will need to set for about 12 hours before you start decorating or handling them to make sure that all of the icing has hardened.
The Bottom Line
If you are crazy for Halloween, these cutters are a must have. As I said, it might take you a little bit of time to get used to them – especially if you are used to using open ended cutters – but once you do, you’ll be whipping out tons of tasty treats for all the boys and ghouls. Adding icing, sprinkles and Halloween decorations to them gives them a personal touch but even if you serve them plain, they are cute and seasonal treats. The Wilton Spooky Cookie Cutter Set is inexpensive but if you really want a deal on these, look for them a few days after Halloween when the items are marked down. Target usually has tons of these left over so that’s the best place to start looking for them when picking up post Halloween bargains.
For more information about these cookie cutters, other outstanding Wilton products and suggestions for culinary creations be sure to visit the Wilton Online Store!
As always, thanks for the visit!
^V^ Freak ^V^
© 2003 Freak369
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Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): $3.75
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