And I don’t want to live without it. I’m talking about the Ateco 11 Piece Plain Round Cutter Set. It’s absolutely perfect for biscuits and other round confections. I’ve been using it a ton lately in my holiday baking for making various sizes of sugar cookies, for instance.

Since 1905, Ateco has supplied fine restaurants, bakeries, and savvy home cooks with quality built, specialty baking tools (a revolving round metal cake stand; a large pastry decorating set, including icing bags and tips; and baking spatulas, for instance). Their products are internationally renowned for their exceptional quality. In fact, I’m still using the Ateco icing decorator I inherited from my mother (it’s probably 60 years old by now), and it works like a charm.

I’ve seen more expensive import sets, but there’s no need to bust the bank—this set performs flawlessly. I have yet to find a circle size that I needed that was not included in this set. They come in their own tin storage box to protect the edges of the cutters (and to reduce clutter). And they’re dishwasher safe. The set retails for about $25, but I found it on Amazon.com for $14.17 (plus shipping). And there’s been no buyer’s remorse; this tool has been worth every dime.

Each of the eleven cutters comes with plain cutting edges and rounded tops. The cutters are made of stainless steel and range in size from 3/- to 3 5/8-inches. They’ve been perfect for cutting pastry; bread-, and doughnut-dough; and the afore-mentioned sugar cookies. I use them to cut bread into different sized rounds when making mini-sandwich trays. And they’re perfect for cutting crackers fresh out of the oven. Because of their depth, they’re also the right tool for cutting brownies and other bars into pretty rounds (I freeze the diamond-shaped leftover pieces for use later on; we like to fold them into ice cream).

My gourmet neighbor, Nancy, uses the smaller ones when making her own ravioli and individual cheesecake bites. Another friend uses them to cut the squares of deli-sliced meats into pretty rounds to top her party crackers. And my candy-making cousin, Josi, wouldn’t use anything else for cutting out her fondant. Finally, our grill-master uncle, Russ, uses the largest circle to form perfect hamburger patties.

There are two concerns with this tool, though. First, they can rust, so you want to be sure to dry them well after each use. But regarding this rusting, here are couple tips I read on the amazon.com site from avid users of this set: One user said that rather than washing them, she rubs them clean. She’s been doing this for years and they’re as perfect as the day she bought them. Another happy customer said that if you put cornstarch in the bottom of the tin that the cutters come in, there’s absolutely no rust whatsoever. I’ll be doing this.

The second concern: If dropped they can dent. So you want to be careful when handling. But all this said, they’re still far, far, far better than buying some cheap 4-piece set at Target that will bend just with use, warp over time, and end up misshapen. So hat’s off to Ateco for creating a tool I use ALL the time. (And I just thought of another use—cutting out the dough for the mini pizzas I’m making for supper tonight!)