My friend Jeanne gave me a Silpat non-stick baking mat. It's a strange looking thing that takes the place of parchment paper for baking items like cookies. Jeanne's advice is best use a Silpat and not any of the cheaper versions. Jeanne, a master baker, originally introduced me to the use of parchment paper to bake cookies. I kind of poo-pooed it in the beginning, but now I won't make cookies without either parchment paper or my Silpat.
The one I received as a birthday present is the toaster oven size. If I'm baking four cookies fresh for our dessert, it's just the right size. If I want to bake more, I still use parchment paper.
With a good cleaning, both the Silpat and parchment can be reused. The Silpat is a more expensive initially (about $20), but it can be a savings if you bake a lot of cookies. Parchment paper is about $7.50 for a 33 foot roll.
Both the Silpat and the parchment paper bake my cookies equally well. Compared to baking directly on the cookie sheet, they both are a huge improvement.
Do you use a Silpat? What do you think? Is it worth the cost? -- Margy
If you bake a lot, yes, I would think something reusable would be worth it. Parchment is reusable but I never hold it over different baking times, in fact I usually use one piece per pan and just slide the parchment off and get a new one for the next bath.
ReplyDeleteI usually bake four cookies at a time. Maybe it's the old school teacher in me (in the early days you had to stretch ditto masters until there wasn't any ink left to use). I sponge off and dry my parchment paper several times on each side. Once it gets brittle, I trade it in for a new sheet. Even so, my cookies have never stuck. - Margy
DeleteI have always wondered about Silpat. I got onto parchment paper about a year ago and won't bake anything without it now. Cleanup is so easy and my pans last longer. I bought a huge amount of parchment last year at Costco - probably a five year supply lol as I don't back that often. It is the biggest lifesaver with my homemade pizzas though.
ReplyDeleteI even reuse my parchment paper a few times. Even more savings. - Margy
DeleteI purchased two of the largest size baking sheets - they are not Silpat (they are Artisan brand) and they work wonderfully, plus the price was half of what Silpat would have cost. My friend bought some too and she's had just as many good results. I've not tried other brands, but at 14.00 for two very large sheets of Artixan brand I'm very happy.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I use parchment still - but not for baking cookies - I use it - cut to size- in the bottom of bread pans when I make banana bread (or pumpkin bread, or carrot bread, etc) so it flips out of the pan easily and no broken bottoms. I don't know how we got along all those years growing up, without Silpat or parchment paper. I've also used regular waxed paper, cut to size, in the bottoms of bread and cake pans - works great. Learned that from my Home-Ec teacher in the 60s.
Your cookies look delicious!!! How neat to be able to bake four cookies - I think I need to get a toaster oven - and a cookie.
Do they still teach Home-Ec? We learned so much from those practical classes back then. Now it's all academics it seems. - Margy
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