National Cookie Cutter Week – December 1, 2026

History of National Cookie Cutter Week

If you really want to delve into the origin of cookie cutters, you’d have to go a long way back to 2000 B.C. The tradition of molding sweet cakes into shapes began in Ancient Egyptians and was later adopted by the inhabitants of Greece, Rome, and Western Europe. In the 1500s, the Germans started baking molds with intricate designs, out of which emerged oodles of gingerbread people, houses, trees, mountains, and whatnot. And by the 1800s, American tinsmiths had built cookie cutters and introduced them into the market for sale.

The naming of this holiday week was initiated in 1996 by a lady named Paula Mullins from Kentucky. While collecting signatures for the petition to create the holiday, Paula designed a cutter in the shape of a horse’s head and gave it to each person who signed. She started this tradition for the members of the Cookie Cutter Collectors’ Club. Yes, you read that right! There’s a club for people who share an interest in cookie cutters and any cookie-related topics. What’s more, there’s a National Cookie Cutter Historical Museum in Joplin, Missouri, established for the public. All the varied cutters designed by the club members are featured there.

In 2007, when Mullins decided to retire, Lyn Linder took over the charge of the club and the museum, to continue this unique tradition of designing cookie cutters. Who knew there could be such a thing as a club that specializes in making cookie cutters? Now that there is, we think it’s quite intriguing.