The Kitchen Tool That Can Also Be Used As A Cookie Press

There are few things as satisfying as a piece of kitchen equipment that can multitask. Sure, it's great to possess a specialized utensil that's great at what it does — like a citrus reamer that makes quick work of lemons, limes, and oranges — but isn't it even better to pick up one tool that you can rely on for a whole range of kitchen jobs?

Of all the multitasking kitchen tools, there might not be one as hardworking as the humble potato masher. Whether in its zig-zagged wire form or its perforated plate form, whether sporting an elongated handle or a short horizontal one (via Elite Daily), this kitchen workhorse takes easily to a huge range of tasks, from breaking up tomatoes in a homemade tomato sauce to handily "dicing" boiled eggs for egg salad (via Southern Living). These versatile tools are useful in a range of applications, including making dessert.

Press out peanut butter cookies with ease

If you've already used your potato masher to break up ground meat when you're browning it in a pan, smash avocados for homemade guac, work cold butter into your pastry dough, and crush graham crackers for a graham cracker crust (via Allrecipes), then you might want to know about yet another handy potato masher hack: pressing cookies with a design on top, such as peanut butter cookies.

If you've ever baked this nostalgic treat at home, then you know it's traditional to press a crosshatch pattern onto the tops of the cookies. Whether for visual appeal or to flatten the cookie into an ideal thickness, this step is usually achieved by pressing fork tines into the top of the rolled ball of dough, then pressing the tines the other way. The process is somewhat laborious, especially if you're short on time or cranking out multiple dozens of cookies for a holiday cookie swap.

Enter the potato masher, which, according to Allrecipes, can be used to quickly press out peanut butter cookies. In this case, you'll want to use the perforated plate form, which looks like a round disk with some circles punched out of it, to achieve the cookie's signature crosshatch pattern. Alternatively, a masher can be used to apply sugar to the tops of sugar cookies by wetting the tool slightly, dipping it into sugar, and then pressing it into the cookies. Could the potato masher be the unsung hero of the kitchen? We certainly think so.