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5 Best Biscuit Cutter Substitutes

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Biscuits are super fun and easy to make at home, especially if you love baking. With just a few simple ingredients, you can make the most perfect biscuits right in your kitchen and have your home smell like a little bakery.

While the process of making biscuits is pretty straightforward, the only thing that might add confusion is that most recipes require a special tool called a biscuit cutter.

We understand that not all of you may have a biscuit cutter in your kitchen. The good news is that you don’t have to run to the department store to cut your biscuits. You can easily use some common kitchen tools as great substitutes.

So, what are the best biscuit cutter substitutes? Theoretically, you can use anything that has a round shape and a hollow center to replace a biscuit cutter. This includes the rims of cups, glasses, tins, and cans.

Some common substitutes include an upside-down cup or glass, commercial product tins and cans, or a cookie cutter. If a perfectly round shape isn’t a priority, you may also use a knife or pizza cutter to shape your biscuits.

Read on to find out about the 5 best biscuit cutter substitutes and how to use them to get perfectly shaped biscuits every time.

What Is A Biscuit Cutter?

A biscuit cutter is a specialized tool that gives the biscuits their round shape. Unlike other doughs that you can usually shape with your hands, you will need a biscuit cutter to shape your biscuits.

It comes in a wide range of sizes, but all have the same round shape. It is typically made using metal since the sharp edges allow you to cut evenly through the dough, although some may also be made using plastic. 

Using a biscuit cutter ensures that all the biscuits are uniformly sized and shaped since it helps achieve consistency during baking.

If the biscuit dough is rolled out evenly and the same biscuit cutter is used to shape all the biscuits, it will ensure that the entire batch has the same cooking time.

Uniform shapes and sizes are of particular importance to professional chefs since their customers often expect a certain level of consistency, and also to home cooks who like things done a certain way.

The best way to use a biscuit cutter is to dip it in flour before using it to prevent it from sticking to the dough. Next, position it in a corner of the sheet of dough and press it through in a single smooth motion.

Since biscuit dough can usually only be rolled once, you may want to cut the biscuits very close together to maximize the number of biscuits you get out of a single sheet of dough. 

5 Best Biscuit Cutter Substitutes

For times when you wish to bake fresh biscuits but do not have a biscuit cutter to give them shape, you can use one of these great substitutes that we are sure you can easily find in your kitchen.

When using a makeshift biscuit cutter, just make sure it is not tapered around the edges as this will impact the final shape of the biscuit.

The 5 Best Biscuit Cutter Substitutes Include:

1. Upside-Down Cup Or Glass

An upside-down cup or glass is one of the simplest and most easily available biscuit cutter substitutes out there. We are positive almost everyone has cups and glasses of various sizes that they can use to cut their biscuits.

Simply take a cup or glass of your choice, invert it, and there you have it! To prevent the dough from sticking inside and on the edges, you will have to dip the glass in flour before using it.

If you have a glass with a thin rim, it would make a great option since it would easily cut through the dough. However, don’t worry if you don’t have one like this since you can very easily use a regular glass or cup as well. 

The only issue is that if the dough gets stuck inside, it would be a bit difficult to get it out without ruining the shape of the biscuit.

2. Commercial Product Tins And Cans

Product tins and cans, such as those for tuna or processed fruit, can work as great substitutes for biscuit cutters. 

You can choose the most suitable one lying around in your house based on your size and shape preference.

Also, what’s great is that since these cans and tins are usually made with thin metal, they allow you to evenly cut through the dough, similar to actual biscuit cutters.

To make these tins and cans work as a biscuit cutter replacements, you will have to remove both ends of the can using a can opener, wash it with a mild solution to get rid of any smell or food residue, wipe it dry, and start cutting your biscuits.

Although you don’t necessarily have to remove both ends of the can, we recommend that you do it since you wouldn’t have to worry about the dough getting stuck inside.

You can easily push it out from the other end and bend the dough back into shape if you feel it is a bit deformed.

3. Cookie Cutter

A biscuit cutter is essentially a cookie cutter without the details.

You will find cookie cutters in all kinds of fun shapes and sizes, usually with detailing such as branches of a Christmas tree or the arms and legs of a human figure, whereas a biscuit cutter typically comes in a simple bold shape.

The reason for this is that since the biscuits rise when they bake, the details get obscured, as compared to a cookie that stays relatively flat.

A biscuit cutter mostly comes in a standard round shape. However, you may also find other shapes and patterns such as squares, rectangles, flowers, hearts, stars, trees, and dinosaurs.

Therefore, if you are unable to get your hands on a biscuit cutter, you may also use a cookie cutter for similar results.

Just make sure that the cookie cutter you use has high sides so that you can easily cut the biscuit dough without ruining its shape.

4. Kitchen Knife

You can use your trusty kitchen knife to not just cut your meat, fruit, and vegetables, but also your biscuit dough! 

It is one of the easiest and fastest ways to cut biscuits according to your preferred shape and size.

Although it may not provide the uniformness that a biscuit cutter or the above 3 substitutes would provide, it gives a great opportunity to be creative with the shape of your biscuits.

After you roll out the dough, you may chop it up into several pieces and use the edge of your knife to give them shape. You can also use a butter knife if you’re more comfortable using it or your children are helping out.

5. Pizza Cutter

If using a kitchen knife seems too risky to you, you may opt for a safer and more harmless option – a pizza cutter.

Since pizza cutters come in various sizes, you will have to see which one works best for you and cut the biscuit dough in any shape of your liking.

You may go with a traditional round shape for your biscuits or go for other popular shapes such as squares, rectangles, triangles, or diamonds.

Related Questions

Now that you know how to use a biscuit cutter and what to substitute it with if you don’t have one, here are a few additional questions we thought you might have regarding this topic:

Do You Twist The Biscuit Cutter After Pressing It Into The Dough?

Using the right tools isn’t the only thing that will guarantee perfect biscuits. The technique is equally important.

Twisting the biscuit cutter after pressing it into the dough is one of the biggest mistakes that often results in flat biscuits. It “seals” the edges and prevents the biscuits from rising.

For best results, press the biscuit cutter straight down into the dough in a single smooth motion without twisting it.

How Do You Make The Best Biscuits At Home?

You need just a handful of ingredients to make the most delicious biscuits at home, followed by a few simple steps that will ensure they turn out just the way they are supposed to.

You will need some all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, baking powder (recipe without baking powder), baking soda, sea salt flakes, cold salted butter (recipe without butter), and chilled buttermilk (recipe without milk) for the dough.

Preheat the oven to 450°F and combine all the dry ingredients in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse it several times until the mixture starts to resemble coarse meal.

Next, stir in the chilled buttermilk until it is well combined. Do not overmix. Take the dough out onto a floured surface and gently pat it out into ¾-inch thickness.

Using a biscuit cutter, or any one of the above-mentioned substitutes, cut out the biscuits and place them 2-inches apart on a baking sheet. Bake them for about 15-20 minutes until they turn golden brown.

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