Wayne Gisslen

Types and Makeup Methods: Molded Cookies

Appears in
Professional Cooking: 10th Edition
Professional Cooking

By Wayne Gisslen

Published 2025

  • About
The first part of the procedure for molded cookies (steps 1 and 2) is simply a fast and fairly accurate way of dividing the dough into equal portions. Each piece is then molded into the desired shape. This usually consists of simply flattening the pieces out with a weight. For some traditional cookies, special molds are used to flatten the dough and, at the same time, stamp it with a design.
The pieces may also be shaped by hand into crescents, fingers, or other shapes:
  1. Roll the dough into long cylinders about 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick, or whatever size is required. (Refrigerate the dough if it is too soft to handle.)
  2. With a knife or bench scraper, cut the roll into 1-ounce (30-g) pieces, or whatever size is required.
  3. Place the pieces on prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches (5 cm) of space between them.

  4. Flatten cookies with a weight (such as a can) dipped in granulated sugar after pressing each cookie.

    A fork is sometimes used for flattening the dough, as for peanut butter cookies.

  5. Alternative method: After step 2, shape the dough by hand into desired shapes.