Pull out your cookie cutters and have some fun with kids. These Polenta Cutouts are a blast to make and delicious to eat all year long!

For most people, cookie cutters sit in a drawer collecting dust for over 11 months of the year. I’ve been collecting cutters for years in all different kinds of shapes and sizes, but, admittedly, mine don’t get as much use as they should.

Cookie cutters are obviously great for cookies, but kids have such a blast baking with them that I wanted to use them to help introduce kids to new foods in a fun way. So I came up with these polenta shapes. The recipe is really easy and it’s perfect because you can keep the sheet of polenta in the fridge after you make it and cut them up whenever you want some.

To test out my little experiment, I recently brought a sheet of polenta and a bunch of cookie cutters to our friend’s house for a dinner so the kids could participate in making their meal. They each picked the shapes they liked best — the heart, bear, car and dolphin were my favorites — and proceeded to cut out the polenta shapes. It only took me minutes to pan sear them and let them cool before all the kids were holding their own creation and munching away!

Polenta Cutouts

7 Cups Water
1 13 oz Box Instant Polenta
2 Tsp Salt
3/4 Cup Parmesan
3 Tbsp Butter, plus more for sauteing

1. Line a sheet tray with foil and coat with cooking spray.
2. Bring 7 cups of water and salt to a boil.
3. Add polenta in a slow stream while whisking continuously to avoid lumps.
4. Turn heat to low and continue to stir with a wooden spoon until polenta thickens, 5-8 minutes (you may add more boiling water as needed to keep the polenta a smooth consistency).
5. Turn the heat off and add parmesan and butter. Stir to combine.
6. Pour onto a sheet tray and spread with the back of a spoon to cover the tray evenly. Cool.
7. Refrigerate the polenta for 30 minutes or covered up to 2 days.
8. Remove the sheet tray from the refrigerator and use cookie cutters to stamp out shapes.
9. Heat 1 tbsp of butter in a saute pan over medium heat and cook the polenta shapes for 3-5 minutes on each side or until golden (you can also serve these cold).
10. Eat polenta shapes on their own or serve with a red sauce.

Some moms make their kids sugar cookies, some make them pound cakes. My mom made cheese wafers. I’m not talking about a tins worth, I’m literally talking pounds and pounds!). You would have thought she was starting her own cheese 
wafer business with the amount of cracker barrel cheese kept in our 
refrigerator. I remember standing by her salivating as she made them. 
Really they’re THAT good. She placed a perfect pecan on top of each one and added 
a touch of paprika for a little zip.
For my cheese wafers, I removed the zip and decided to roll and cut them into 
fun shapes for Halloween and Thanksgiving. I don’t know if any kid 
will accept cheese wafers instead of candy, but I know that if you 
offer these over those pre-packaged, oily goldfish snacks, they’ll not only beg for more but they’ll also avoid ingesting all those nasty preservatives, artificial flavors and dyes, too.


Kenya kept popping these in his mouth and crunching away so fast, I 
had to hide them from him. Now the only trouble is that I know where they are and I may eat the entire tin!

Cheese Wafers (Makes 3-4 dozen depending on the size of your cookie cutters)

1/2 Lb Sharp Cheddar Cheese
5 Tbsp Butter
1 Cup Flour plus additional for sprinkling

1. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and combine (dough may be a bit crumbly, but it will stick together).
2. Remove all the dough to a piece of parchment or waxed paper and shape into a thick flat circle. Cover with waxed paper and refrigerate for one hour or overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
4. Open waxed paper and roll out dough on it into a 1/4 inch-thick piece.
5. Take small cookie cutters and cut out into shapes (you could also take an empty plastic medicine bottle to make circle shaped crackers. Just make sure you clean out the bottle thoroughly first.).
6. Place on a cookie sheet (preferably lined with a silpat or parchment paper) and bake for 12-15 minutes. Let cool on sheet for 2 minutes before removing.
7. Serve.

We used these to make this recipe:

Silpat 11-5/8-by-16-1/2-Inch Nonstick Silicone Baking Mat