If you’ve ever wondered if a biscuit cutter substitute is as good as the actual thing, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve gathered here to discuss everything about substitutes for biscuit cutters.
However, just as it was the case with my article on pastry cutter substitutes, I’ll say here the same thing I said there: you’re much better off getting the actual tool than trying to make things work with these substitutes.
There are times when substitutes are necessary and work perfectly. For example, if we’re talking about finding a pizza stone substitute, we can find so many awesome replacements that it’s actually hard to choose in the end.
I will definitely tell you all about biscuit cutter substitutes. They will work if you only make biscuits once a year for some holiday. But if you’re in the habit of making them often, then get the actual kitchen tool because it’s quite cheap and it’s not that hard to find.
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Biscuit Cutter Substitute: the 6 Replacements
Since we’re talking about a biscuit cutter substitute, the word cutter clearly indicates that we can’t use our bare hands to mold the dough. That’s one replacement that won’t work. Since the biscuit has a round form, a chef’s knife won’t work either. Unless you decide to make square biscuits.
Obviously, we’ll need some tools that can help us get that round beautiful shape that a biscuit cutter can easily achieve by simply pressing it into the dough. One press and you have a biscuit. With a cutter, the process is very fast and easy.
Plus, when you’re buying a biscuit cutter, you’re actually getting a set of them, each of a different diameter. Some will include 5 sizes, others will have 3 sizes. Both options are awesome. The height of the cutters will be the same, only the diameter differs.
1. Upside down glass – Easy-to-Use Biscuit Cutter Substitute
This is actually the best replacement. You only need a glass. You can pick one that has the size you want and get to work.
Nevertheless, it’s best to get a glass that has a pretty thin rim because that one is guaranteed to cut through the dough cleanly. A thick rim won’t do much in the way of cutting.
In order to make the biscuits from dough, you’ll have to coat the mouth of the glass with flour. It will prevent the dough from sticking to the glass mouth. I would actually coat pretty much the whole interior of the glass just to be safe from any dough sticking to the walls.
As long as the dough doesn’t get stuck inside the glass, you’re all good.
If you want to know how to use an upside down glass to cut biscuit dough, watch this video on how a biscuit cutter is used because the principle is the same. You’ll actually learn the proper technique.
Let me give you a hint: the proper technique doesn’t involve pressing down on the glass/cutter and then twisting because that can stop the biscuits from rising properly.
It actually involves pressing down and then wiggling the glass/cutter just a bit and the dough will get loose.
2. Cookie cutter
I am pretty sure that most of the people looking for a biscuit cutter substitute don’t actually have a cookie cutter set around the house. If you had one, you wouldn’t be looking for a replacement because you would already be using your cookie cutter.
If you have a cookie cutter with a nice height that’s pretty much what a biscuit cutter is. They look very similar.
The height is important for getting nicely risen, high, fluffy biscuits. If the height of your cookie cutter is quite low, the biscuits won’t rise as much in the oven. That’s why the height matters.
3. Wheel pizza cutter
I don’t think you can shape nice biscuits with a chef’s knife, unless you’re really skilled with it. I’m good when it comes to chopping and cutting fast but I’m not that good.
Maybe using a pizza wheel cutter can make it easier to get the round shape. It won’t be perfectly round but it can be done.
4. Use a knife and make square biscuits
I said that you can’t get a round shape with a chef’s knife. Or maybe you can and I don’t know how.
The alternative is to use a very sharp knife and make square biscuits. If they rise properly in the oven, even square-shaped ones can look amazing.
You can get inventive and make triangle, square, and rectangle shapes. That works.
5. Using the 1/3 measuring cup
If you have one of those stainless steel measuring cup sets, then you probably have the 1/3 measuring cup, too.
Well, you can use that one as a biscuit cutter substitute. I actually discovered this method while watching this video.
I definitely recommend watching it if you want to give this method a try because the people from America’s Test Kitchen who made that video also have a special biscuits recipe to work with this substitute. It’s a much wetter dough than what you might be used to.
6. Use 2 large spoons
When I made my research for another article, are crackers bread, I wanted to answer that question from all angles. Which lead to me to a really nice cookbook. It’s called Salty Snacks by Cynthia Nims.
You might be wondering what does that have to do with talking about biscuit cutter substitutes.
Well, in that cookbook there’s a recipe for buckwheat biscuits. It combines all purpose flour with buckwheat flour some baking powder, kosher salt, unsalted butter, and whole milk. Once they’re baked, the biscuits are transformed into tiny sandwiches with dry-cured ham and sliced pears.
Besides that delicious recipe, I also came across another method to shape biscuits.
Once the batter is done in a food processor, it’s transferred to a bowl where the milk is added as the last ingredient.
This is where it gets interesting: 2 large spoons are used to drop the dough on baking sheets by heaping tablespoons into mounds about 2 inches across.
Unfortunately, there are not pictures in the book. I would have really like to get a visualization of the final result.
Should you just get a biscuit cutter?
The answer is yes. Especially if you bake at least once a month. It will be worth it.
If you bake less often, you can try the upside down glass method or just use a knife and make square/triangle biscuits.
When it comes to why a biscuit cutter is so awesome, it is not even about the perfect round shape and the different sizes.
It’s about that really nice perfect height. When the dough is cut at a certain height and then baked, the end result is fluffy biscuits that look just the way they’re supposed to look.
In my opinion, using a biscuit cutter substitute absolutely won’t be the same, there’s no perfect replacement for an actual biscuit cutter set but a replacement can work if you only bake once a twice a year.
