Cookies for shaping are usually rolled cookies.
Common categories would include:
- Sugar cookies (as Mien mentioned)
- Gingerbread
- Linzer cookie dough
Look for recipes where you use a rolling pin. These are already formulated for minimal spread.
Adapting other cookie recipes for use with cookie cutters will be trickier, and probably not worth the effort, in my opinion.
Some keys to keeping cookies thick, beyond the chilled dough, are: use a starchier flour, use a fat with a high melting point, and use baking powder.
A starchier flour, like cake flour, will spread less than a flour that has higher protein, like all purpose. If you can't find cake flour, you could replace some of the flour in your recipe with a starch, like cornstarch or potato starch.
Shortening has a higher melting point than butter, replacing all or some of the butter in your recipe with shortening will allow the cookie to begin to set before the fat melts completely.
Finally, baking powder contains acids which help to keep the dough tighter. This helps it to "puff" more and spread less. If you can't use baking powder, you could add a bit of some other acidic ingredient to your dough (but cut the baking soda a bit as well or you might end up with cookies that are too cakey). A bit of a fruit vinegar, citrus juice, or cream of tartar would probably do the trick.
Best Answer
Most drop cookies that are made by creaming butter and sugar turn out fairly well as bar cookies.
One thing to think about is the additional baking time - since they are thicker, you may have an underdone center even once the top is golden brown.
You should probably bake them slightly longer than you would normally, and check them fairly frequently. I prefer my cookies chewy (almost like cookie dough) in the middle, so I tend to bake them for less time.