Everyone loves a good gingerbread cookie around the holiday season – but why limit yourself to the typical cookie mold, red icing buttons and white icing smile? Gingerbread men can come in all shapes, sizes and varieties, and they all taste equally delicious. Creating funny and unique gingerbread cookies is as simple as changing your cookie cutter. Check out this list of funky cookie cutters sure to spice up your holiday baking.

Ninja-Bread MenThey punch, they kick, they can fly, they’re…ninja-bread men! These triple-threat cookies are more than your average holiday treat. With their strong limbs, and faces ready for fierce frosting, your ninja-bread men are sure to be a huge hit. All it takes is a cookie cutter to transform your classic holiday icon into a full-fledged, dynamic gingerbread cookie martial arts star. So get baking!

Photo by Kelda Baljon

Limbless Cookie CuttersWith these tricky cookie cutters, your guests will be in for quite a surprise when they reach for the gingerbread men to find that all of them are missing a bite. The bite-stealing culprit? Your “already been chewed” cookie cutters.

MustacheEvery gingerbread man needs a few accessories, so try this gingerbread mustache on for size. It’s cute, classy and totally holiday-friendly – especially if you make it with gingerbread cookie dough. You can use your mustache cookie to eat, wear or even dress up. All it takes is this unique cookie cutter to bake the perfect “mustache-man.”

Photo by Kelda Baljon

Gnome BreadmenNo one said your gingerbread men can’t resemble your favorite yard décor. Gnome-shaped cookies are fun to bake, and their little Santa hats make them even more fun to eat. For the full garden effect, position your baked gingerbread gnomes on a cookie sheet with layers of green icing toward the bottom to represent grass and some blue at the top for the sky – and don’t forget to decorate your gnome cookies’ hats and outfits while you’re at it. Together, your gnome cookies and decorated cookie sheet will look perfect for the holiday season.

Animal Shapes: Some of the best cookie cutters for your gingerbread dough don’t have to be people or mustaches at all. Try animal shapes. Reindeer gingerbread would add some pizzazz when you leave cookies and milk for Santa on Christmas Eve. But to really mess with your holiday guests, let them pick up a gingerbread moose! It’s likely they’ve never seen – or tasted – anything like it before.

Photo by Kelda Baljon