FAQs

Yes, if the dough is cold and you use a no-spread recipe. That is the whole question, and we would rather answer it honestly than promise magic. The engraving on our pins is cut deep on purpose, so the relief survives the oven instead of flattening out. What defeats it is dough that spreads: a soft, buttery, sugary dough puffs and swallows the pattern as it bakes. Chill your cut cookies for 20 to 30 minutes before they go in, and the pattern holds.

Almost always one of three things. The dough was too warm when it went in, so it spread. The recipe was a standard sugar cookie, which puffs. Or the dough was rolled too thin, so there was not enough depth for the relief to sit in. Roll to about 5 mm, chill the cut shapes until firm, and bake straight from cold. If it still does not work, write to us at contact@pastrymade.com and we will help you troubleshoot it before you give up on the pin.

Flour the pin, not the dough. Dust the engraved surface with flour and tap off the excess, then roll. If dough still lodges in the grooves, your dough is too wet or too warm. Chill it and add a little flour. A clogged pattern prints badly, so it is worth clearing the grooves with a dry brush between batches.

Shortbread and no-spread sugar cookie doughs. Anything with a high butter and sugar ratio that puffs during baking will blur the pattern. Gingerbread works well too. A recipe booklet with our own no-spread shortbread is included with every pin, and it is the single most mentioned thing in our five-star reviews for a reason: it is what makes the pattern hold.

You need a dough that does not spread, and yes, one is included in the box. It is the recipe our customers write to us about most. If you would rather use your own, look for a low-spread shortbread and chill the cut shapes before baking.

Yes, and many customers do. Fondant, pie crust, pasta and ravioli all take the pattern. A large group of our customers are not bakers at all but potters and clay artists, who use the pins to texture polymer clay, air-dry clay and pottery slabs. The technique is the same: firm material, even pressure, one pass.

The regular pin covers most home baking and is the one most people buy. The larger size covers more dough per pass, which is worth it if you bake in quantity or work on bigger sheets. Both carry the same engraving depth, so the result on the cookie is identical.

Yes. We engrave custom designs, with a minimum order of five pins. Send your artwork in vector form to contact@pastrymade.com and we will come back to you with the details. It works for a logo, a monogram or an original drawing, and it is most often chosen for weddings, company gifts and events rather than a single pin for yourself. If you only want one, pick from the 250+ patterns we already have engraved.

A rolling pin covers a whole sheet of dough with one continuous pattern, which is what you want for a tray of patterned cookies. A cube carries six different designs on its six faces and is pressed rather than rolled, one cookie at a time. The cube suits variety and small batches; the pin suits covering ground.

Because of how deep the pattern is cut. A shallow engraving is cheaper to produce and it is the reason so many embossed pins disappoint in the oven: there is not enough relief to survive baking. Ours are cut deep into solid beech and finished in our own workshop in Poland. Our customers put it more bluntly than we would in their reviews, which often warn other buyers not to go for the cheaper option.

Two parts. Every pin is engraved to order, which takes about 2 to 3 business days before it ships. Then transit: 3 to 5 business days in Europe, 3 to 7 in the United States and Canada, 5 to 8 in Australia and New Zealand, 7 to 11 in Asia and the rest of the world. So a European order usually arrives within 5 to 8 business days of being placed, and a US or Canadian order within 5 to 10.

For the European Union and the United States, no. Duties are prepaid and included in what you pay at checkout, so there is nothing to settle with the courier on arrival. For the United Kingdom and other destinations, your local customs authority may hold a parcel and ask for import duties or a handling fee. In practice this is rare — fewer than one order in a hundred — but it does happen, and we would rather tell you than let it surprise you. If it happens to yours, write to us and we will help you sort it out.

Order by the end of November if you are in Europe or North America, and by mid-November if you are further away. December is our busiest month and couriers slow down, so the earlier the better. If you are ordering for a specific date and cutting it fine, write to us first and we will tell you honestly whether it will make it.

UPS within Europe and FedEx elsewhere. You receive a tracking link by email as soon as your order ships. If your parcel has not arrived, is marked delivered but was not received, or arrives damaged, contact us within 30 days of ordering so we can investigate while the courier records are still available.

Yes, from our workshop in Poland. Shipping is calculated at checkout based on weight and destination, and it is free above a certain order value that converts into your local currency.

You have 60 days from delivery to tell us, and we refund the full purchase price. That applies to every item we sell, including discounted ones. If you are a consumer in the EU, the EEA or the UK you also have a statutory right to withdraw within 14 days, which exists on top of our guarantee. Return shipping is at your cost, back to our workshop in Poland.

A dry brush along the grooves, right after use, before any dough dries in them. Do not soak it and do not put it in the dishwasher. It is untreated beech: water swells the wood and dulls the engraving. Cleaned this way a pin lasts for years.

Yes. Solid beech, untreated, with no coating or varnish. Nothing is applied to the surface that touches your dough.

By email at contact@pastrymade.com. We answer Monday to Friday, excluding Polish public holidays. If your question is about an order, include your order number, which starts with PM followed by four digits.

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