Molded Cookies

Molded cookies fall into several categories: Some are made by pressing dough into a mold or form or pressing a mold or form onto a piece of dough to imprint a design or shape on it (Swiss and German Springerle and Dutch speculaas are made this way). Others are made by actually baking dough or batter in a plain or decorative mold, like financiers and madeleines. Still others are molded by hand into simple or complex shapes, the way a simple gingersnap is rolled into a ball before being placed on the pan to bake.