My post about dog biscuits got me thinking about all the wonderful things you can do with cookie cutters. You can take a cookie cutter – lets say a heart – and cut out the middle of a sandwich. Then take the leftover sandwich and cut it into four pieces. Then you have a puzzle sandwich that you can reassemble and eat. I got this idea from FamilyFun Cookbook from the folks at FamilyFun magazine.

FamilyFun Cookbook calls the sandwich a "Peanut Puzzler" since they use peanut butter, but you can use banana slices, honey and cream cheese, apple butter, ham and cheese – just use your imagination and have fun.

Another fun way to learn your ABCs is to make letter cookies. Nigella Lawson is coming out with a very attractively packaged letter/number metal cookie cutters set next month. Or you can go to a local crafts store and get Wilton’s plastic letter/number set.

FamilyFun.com has a recipe for gingerbread ABC cookies. In Colonial days, when children learned the alphabet, their families celebrated by making gingerbread letters.

Gingerbread ABC Cookies

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2. 3/4 cup brown sugar
3. 2 eggs
4. 1/2 cup molasses
5. 1 tsp. vanilla extract
6. 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
7. 1 tbsp. cinnamon
8. 1 tsp. ginger
9. 1 tsp. baking soda
10. 1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Mix in the molasses and the vanilla extract.
2. In another bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Then add the flour mixture to the butter mixture a little at a time, stirring well each time. Cover the dough and chill for at least 2 hours.
3. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. On a floured surface, roll the dough flat to a 1/4-inch thickness. Now your kids can cut out large letters with a butter knife.
4. With a spatula, set the letters on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes or until the cookies are set. Yield varies depending on the size of the letters.

Pictures from the Flickr account of chalk sbair.

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