Amazingly Detailed Artesão Cookie Molds
I saw a small blurb on these unique and custom cookie molds and I knew I had to try them and bring them here to you. I contacted Artesão owner Susan Moniz who was more than happy to send some molds for us to test. You can see from the images that these are extraordinarily detailed molds that really spoke to our creativity. Here is our review.
Product Description: Flexible silicone rubber molds in dozens of shapes; can also be custom ordered. The shapes range from expected holiday themed, such as a witch, Santa and hearts to whimsical shapes such as a dinosaur, fairy and zombie. They are dishwasher safe or hand-washable (preferred and recommended method). They are oven safe to 500°F, however, cookies are not baked inside the molds. The company website offers cookie dough recipes that are formulated to hold their shape, therefore showing off all the exquisite detail of the molds. They do not contain leavener, which makes sense to hold the detail, and they are all good scratch recipes using butter, sugar and fresh eggs. There is a standard Sugar Cookie, a Cream Cheese Butter Cookie, a Chocolate Cream Cheese Butter Cookie and a forthcoming Peanut Butter Cookie.
Test Kitchen Overview: We were thrilled with the assortment of molds that Susan sent us. Above you can see the molds before we started using them. As recommended we had the oven preheated to 350°F and baking sheets lined with parchment paper. We prepared two sheets: one to hold the larger shapes and one to hold the smaller, as they would bake at different rates.
She also sent us her packaged sugar cookie mix and we used that to create our cookies. The dough was easy to work with and so were the molds. We filled a bowl with all-purpose flour and simply dipped the mold of choice in the flour right before using, tapping out the excess. What’s left is a very light coating of flour but it turned out that’s all you need. In fact we used molds two and three times in a row without re-flouring.
The cookie dough is pressed into the mold by hand. For some of the larger molds we also rolled a rolling pin over the dough while in the mold. The key to success is that at this point you want to make sure that any and all details are filled with dough. We used a small straight icing spatula to trim the dough flush with the mold opening. You also want to make sure that the borders of the cookie meet the edge of the mold cleanly. Once the dough is pressed into the mold sufficiently you flip the mold over onto the prepared parchment lined pan and carefully peel back the mold. The cookie pops out and you are ready to use that mold again and again. If, however, you unmold the cookie and then see that perhaps you needed to trim more dough, you can do so at that time using the tip of a sharp paring knife. If you unmold a cookie and see that you missed some details, simply wad up the dough and mold it again. The cookies are baked just until they begin to color and are firm and then cooled completely before decorating.
You can see that the mold details really come forward after painting. (We used dry and wet powdered food colors). We painted them with 13-year-old intern Sofia and I don’t know if the adults or she had more fun. It was impressive how even very subtle details, like Santa’s beard texture, showed up beautifully after baking with no distortion.
The molds cleaned up very easily. We filled a big bowl with soapy water, threw them all in, swished them around and rinsed. The company suggested using a soft toothbrush to remove any dough that sticks, but none did even though we used several different shapes.
Pros: We have never used molds before that were this intricate and so easy to use. The cookies unmolded very easily onto the cookie sheets. The shapes lend themselves to artistic interpretation and we thoroughly enjoyed our time painting them. The easy clean up was a nice surprise. These would make a great addition to a cookie making party for kids and adults alike.
Cons: Slightly pricey, ranging at this time from $13 to $25 for ready-made designs.
Suggested Use: The themed molds have their limited usage but we love that there are also everyday molds such as “Happy Birthday”, “Mermaid”, “Shoe” as well as sports related shapes, bridal, animals and more. There is even an intricate . These molds are perfect for any special occasion where cookies are your baked good of choice. And no one will have seen cookies like this before!
Where to Buy: Artesão Cookie Molds
Price at Time of Review:
$13 to $25. Custom orders priced individually.
Have you tried this product? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
Bakepedia received this product as a gift for review. All opinions are the reviewer’s own.
Third Photo Down from Top: Peter Muka
Other Images: Dédé Wilson
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