It is the shiny or glossy side of the parchment paper that should be face up on your baking sheet or cake pan. That way, the shiny side can be in contact with your food and make the clean-up easy.
Typically, parchment paper is coated with silicone, which gives it its non-stick properties and this coating is applied to both sides of the paper. Therefore, whether you're baking cookies, roasting vegetables or preparing a pan for a cake, you can use either side of the parchment paper.
Greased cookie sheets promote spreading. Giving your cookies something with friction to cling onto, so to speak—like an ungreased baking sheet or one lined with parchment or Silpat—can slow the spreading. A greased sheet just encourages hot, melting cookie dough to run further.
Which Side Goes Up? Here's the good news: most parchment paper is coated on both sides. “I can't speak for other brands, but our parchment—both the roll and sheets—is double sided meaning you can use either side,” Jenna Davis, director of brand marketing at If You Care, explained in an email.
Flour adds fluff and texture to the cookies. Adding too little flour can cause cookies to be flat, greasy, and crispy. Most recipes assume you'll use all-purpose, but if you want a lighter, crumblier cookie texture, choose one with a lower protein content such as cake-and-pastry flour.
Do not ever use parchment or wax paper in the broiler. Despite its heat resistance, parchment paper can't handle the heat of any broiler, which can reach temperatures upward of 500°F. And wax paper? It should never come near the high heat of the oven or broiler.
Make sure it's parchment not wax or freezer paper. Make sure it doesn't have a nonstick silicone coating. If the dough is sticky, it may stick. A light dusting of flour helps too.
Unlike greasing a baking sheet, parchment paper provides a non-stick surface without the need for additional fats, resulting in cookies that effortlessly release from the baking surface. Additionally, its heat-resistant properties prevent cookies from sticking or burning, promoting even browning and a uniform texture.
"When ingredients are heated, especially chocolate, jelly and sugar, they can become sticky and hard, making them likely to adhere to the paper. This is fairly unavoidable, since these ingredients are in most pastries," states Richards.
Placing cookie dough, biscuit rounds, etc on a sheet pan lined with a piece of parchment paper ensures your final product won't stick. No need to use cooking spray and add extra grease, and clean-up is much easier as you can just throw it away when you're done.
Greasing Pans
Rege always uses oil or butter in addition to parchment to ensure that everything will come out cleanly. She makes sure to grease the pan before adding parchment (which helps the parchment adhere and hold in place), then greases the parchment surface as well.
The wax or plastic side is typically the side that wraps against the food on the inside, protecting the contents from the harsh cold of the freezer.
Parchment paper is a baker's best friend for several reasons: Non-Stick Surface: Prevents dough from sticking without the need for extra flour, which can alter the dough's consistency. Easy Transfer: Makes it simple to move dough from your work surface to the baking sheet.
If your cookies may last longer than a few days, you'll want to freeze them to keep them fresh and maintain texture. Pack unfrosted cookies in resealable freezer bags or plastic containers with parchment paper between the layers to prevent sticking. They can be frozen for up to eight months.
While parchment paper used in cooking and baking is generally safe, there are some potential concerns to keep in mind. These include: Inhaling chemicals: Heating parchment paper at high temperatures (above 220°C) may release chemicals into the air that can be potentially harmful when inhaled.
We've all been there—cookies that are burnt on the edges but raw in the middle. The culprit? Most likely your sheets. Dark sheets absorb too much heat, which causes the edges to burn quickly.
For cookies that are high in butter content, this step is crucial and prevents them from melting into thin disks while baking. For most cookie recipes, it takes at least two hours in the fridge to fully chill the dough; an annoyingly long time when you're in the mood to eat cookies ASAP.