What do googly eyes, flour, sugar, butter and tessellations have in common? Escher Flying Fish Cookies!

Geometry was my favorite subject in junior high, no more so than after discovering the wonders of M.C. Escher. So when it was time to bake holiday cookies, my thoughts turned to this astonishing tessellation:

Precision is critical when designing floor tiles or jigsaws. Merely tracing this image could lead to disaster. So I recreated Escher's design in CAD- note the triangular lattice and circular unit cells (remember, Escher worked in an era of straight edges and compasses):

After a little CAD magic, a cookie cutter (STL file HERE) emerges, intended for 1/8" thick dough:

And here is the result- googly eyes optional:

A 3D printed cookie tray (STL file HERE) is a nice addition:

The cookie cutter design is the easy part- baking can be more challenging. The first step is selecting a dough recipe that does not spread in the oven. Then, its best to flour your cutter, cut the dough, refrigerate for 15 minutes and remove the excess dough. Then freeze for 15 minutes before baking (this step also minimizes spreading).

Care must be taken while removing the excess dough- its easy to bend the wings or tail out of position. This additional cutter (STL file HERE) can be used as a guide to help straighten the cut dough before the freezing step:

(Bent cookie)

A few suggested variations:

• Make cookies in two different colors for contrast
• Pipe royal icing into the grooves to highlight the scales
• Mirror reflect the cutter to form sandwich cookies

Enjoy!

Additional articles on kitchen science can be found HERE.

In the practice of all-things barbecue, we appreciate the support and conversations with Meathead at AmazingRibs.com, Sterling at BigPoppaSmokers, along with numerous competition pitmasters and backyard chefs.