Cookies are one of the most popular products in the bakery. They appeal to children of all ages and are a special occasion delicacy as well as an every day treat. Cut-out sugar or butter cookies are often signature items of decorating departments.

Designs are only limited by your imagination, so have plenty of decorated cookies ready for your customers daily. Merchandise them in display cases, and offer them packaged, especially around holidays and community events.

Dip cookies in a hard fondant-type or quick drying roll/donut icing, or ice them in traditional buttercream. Decorate the cookies with buttercream or royal icing. Royal icing dries hard, making it easier to transport, but doesn’t have the smooth mouthfeel of buttercream. With a little imagination, you can turn a single cookie cutter into a variety of “shapes” by varying your decorations.

The oval shape offers a wealth of decorating possibilities. Turn it into an Easter egg or even a fried egg. Or, ice the entire cookie with chocolate fondant, and pipe white lines to create a football. Other options include a bubbly fish or a rainbow on a cloud.

A shamrock can become an assorted cast of characters. Use writing tips to pipe a face on an upside-down shamrock. Or, turn it on its side to pipe a butterfly.

Ice a clown cookie green, and add a black hat and gray hair to make a witch. Or, flip the clown upside down, and decorate it to look like an ice cream cone.

The dinosaur, a favorite among children, becomes a dog with a few changes in decorating technique. Or, turn the shape upside down to form a cactus.

An apple/pumpkin shape can be turned into a woman with her hair in a bun. Or, turn the shape on its side for a human profile. Flip it upside down, and decorate it as a tree.

The most popular and versatile cutter is the round. A baseball, sunflower, clock, Santa or dog represent only a few options.

The star shape poses a challenge as it remains a star no matter how you turn it. However, by changing the way you decorate the shape, it becomes a snowflake or a badge.

Gingerbread men can begin life earlier than Christmas. Turn them into ghosts, scarecrows, snowmen and gingerbread gals.

A Halloween ghost can be made into a Christmas elf.

The Christmas tree can become a year-round cutter. Decorate it as a troll with long, spiked hair. In the summer, turn the tree upside down, ice it completely in red, and pipe white dots and green leaves for a strawberry. Or, decorate it as an ice cream cone. In the fall, turn the tree on its side, and decorate a leaf.