Tips for using vintage embossed cutters

They should emboss and cut at the same time if your dough is at least 1/8-inch thick. You'll probably need to dust them well so that the dough falls out easily once embossed. 

 

I guess you're concerned that cookies will be too thin though . . . so if you want thicker cookies, then your plan sounds good. I find that the thicker the dough (all else the same), the more the dough can spread (and you risk losing some of the impression that way). But if you've got a good non-spreading recipe, you should be OK.

Why not use a larger cookie cutter and use them to make the impression on that? Some of the fancy plaque cutters would be fun background shapes.

 

You might want to try making your own cutters to match. Simply roll out, use the shallow cutter to make all of the impressions, then cut out as you usually do. As a bonus, it may be easier to get the impressed dough out of the shallow cookie cutter, because the thicker dough will be heavier and not all of it will be on the inside of the impression cutter. I suspect you could also design the shape of your cutter to cut off any undesirable areas, or even to make the cookie bigger.

You may want to chill the dough well before cutting, and again before baking, to help prevent too much spreading. Perhaps you could find some information on springerle cookies, as they are also made with an impression? I always see photos of them showing such incredible detail, but I don't know much about how they are made. If you figure it out, I would love to see a picture.

You can buy diy cookie cutter kits from a few places (I like Country Kitchen myself), and if you are fairly crafty you could just buy the refill. I believe you get enough of the metal strips and adhesive to make several cutters for less than $10.   Good luck! I'm sure your cookies will be... impressive, lol.

Check out Jinnee's cookies (Classic Cookies by Parr). She is an expert at using these kind of cookie cutters.