Whether it’s in effort to save money or storage space, many stock their kitchen with one type of baking sheets. It’s usually Teflon coated. It’s no wonder so many people burn their cookies.

When baking butter-based cookies, read the instructions. Ten-to-one it says to put the dough on an ungreased cookie sheet. That’s a red-flag against using Teflon coated pans as well, because they tend to distribute heat differently. Use logic - greasing a pan is done to avoid sticking, and so is using non-stick bakeware. There is a difference between the two, and if you don’t believe me, give it a whirl…

Whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. Set a dozen on a Teflon-coated pan, and another dozen on a standard surface pan (I use Chicago Metallic’s profressional bakeware). Bake both pans at the same temperature, for the same amount of time. Watch how the cookies on the non-stick pan get browner on the bottom much more quickly, and if you seek golden brown cookies in the standard pan, chances are the alternates will come close to burning.

I own one non-stick pan. It’s for pizza only. Any recipe that calls for a greased pan gets either a greased pan, or parchment paper (depending on the ingredients used). Teflon was supposed to make cleanup easier. Unfortunately, there are tradeoffs.

Now, that’s not to say that all non-stick pans are bad. There are some nice ones out there that will provide great even heating and will make your cookie dough less prone to burning. They commonly run three times as much as one you’ll find in your local K-Mart, though. Truth be told, any greasy-based cookie shouldn’t stick even to a standard pan if you’re sure to allow it to properly cool before pulling out the spatula.

Posted Saturday, January 6th, 2007 at 3:17 pm EST
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