Baking Surfaces Review: Foil vs Silpat vs Parchment

March 21, 2020 Savannah Near

Have you ever looked at a baking surface and wondered how it was affecting the way your cookies or baked goods turned out? Whether smooth, ridged, or textured, in chemistry even the smallest variables can have an affect on the outcome. It seems as though same applies to cookies, which are really just little, delicious, chemistry experiments! I have been wanting to run this test for over a year, and finally, my quarantined self found the time—still trying to stay productive! So here are my findings in comparing the results of different baking surfaces. These cookies were made from the same recipe, were scooped with the cookie scooper to be the same size, and were baked at the same temperature, for the same amount of time.

Foil- A much used option when it comes to covering things or making them in the oven. I feel that foil is often used in baking cookies. I found that the cookies baked morphed into less uniform circles. However, I did feel that the cookies baked very evenly, as foil works by reflecting the thermal energy used back to the food. The cookies baked on the foil-lined baking sheet also got crisper overall and toasted on the bottom, but did not burn. Also, I think by having more thermal energy directed towards the cookies, the butter and sugar had more of an opportunity to carmelize, and had a nutter/more distinct flavor once baked. If you like a chewier cookie, this is the baking surface for you! Rating: 8/10
Silpat- If you’re not familiar with a Silpat, I feel that today you have made a very important, life-changing, discovery. A Silpat is a non-stick, food-safe, silicon mat. When it came to the shape of the cookies, all of the cookies baked on the Silpat achieved a beautiful, circular shape, and the whole pan was very uniform. The cookies baked very evenly, but the bottom of the cookie did not get as toasted at the cookies made on the parchment or the foil. Overall, the cookies had a softer, more tender texture. Although the picture of the cookies above does not depict this, the cookies made on the Silpat were overall smaller than those baked on the foil and parchment, I think this is due to the texture of the mat that makes it harder for the cookies to spread. If you like a softer cookie, this surface is for you, and you can buy them here! Rating: 8.5/10
Parchment Paper- There is a picture of cookies on the box of my parchment paper. This had to be tested. Parchment paper is heat-resistant, moisture-resistant, and non-stick, all of the elements needed in order to be a baker’s partner in crime. However, I found that the cookies burned on the bottom and while still edible, it was not the toasted element the foil gave me. The paper was also the slickest surface option and while the dough was heating and spreading, it seems the bottoms of the cookies spread and baked first, and the rest of the cookie followed. As a result, the sides did not spread evenly and did not attain a circular shape. Overall the cookies this baking surface produced were overdone and unevenly spread and baked on the sides. However, my husband did want me to add that they were super crunchy. So if you want a crunchy cookie, this is your baking surface! Rating: 6.5/10

Pumpkin-Spiced-Oatmeal-Chocolate-Chip Cookies

October 24, 2019 Savannah Near

I warned y’all that I was on a fall kick. May I introduce you to my latest creation? Presenting Pumpkin Spiced Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies! All the savory goodness of pumpkin spice and the flavors of fall, but with the perfect sweetness of a chocolate chip cookie. Also, for all you vegan bakers out there did you know that you can swap canned pumpkin for eggs or fat in a recipe? The ratio is 1/4 of a cup of pumpkin for every egg the recipe calls for, or to swap the fat (the butter or oil), simply use an equal amount of canned pumpkin.

Either way, these cookies are like a warm hug.

Ingredients:

-2 sticks (or 1 cup!) of butter (softened)

-1 cup brown sugar

-1 cup of sugar

-2 eggs

-1 T. vanilla

-2 1/2 cups of oats

-2 cups of flour

-1/2 t. salt

-1 t. baking powder

-1 t. baking soda

-1/3 cup of canned pure pumpkin

-1 T. pumpkin pie spice

-1/4 t. ground cinnamon

-12 oz chocolate (dealer’s choice of wafers, morsels, chips, or chopped chunks!) **This recipe used dark chocolate morsels

Method:

Preheat oven to 350.
In a stand mixer, cream together sugars and butter, add in eggs one at a time until well combined, and then add vanilla and pumpkin. Combine.
In a food processor combine oats, flour, salt, baking soda and powder, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon, pulse until oats are powdery and well combined.
Turn the stand mixer back on a gentle stir and slowly add in the dry ingredients. Once combined, add in the chocolate of your choice and mix in!
Shape into golf ball size dough balls and place onto baking sheet.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until done to your liking. I found that the 15-17 minute mark ensures the gooey center and crunchy top—also known as the perfect cookie.

“Mrs. Field’s” Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies

August 28, 2019 Savannah Near

“Imma make you girls a hump day treat…” Okay, yes, my mom did not wear a hot pink Juicy Suit, like Mrs. George in Mean Girls, while she made after school snacks for me and my friends. She might have left the excessive Juicy Couture wearing to me and my sister, but she was all about the after school treats. In the spirit of back to school, think back to your after school snacks: was there a better surprise to await you than a hot cookie? Negative, ghost rider. These cookies were my childhood. We used to double the recipe and take them to our family reunions and when I dressed up as Debbie Fields for Biography Day in third grade, these were the cookies I had as my prop on my cookie tray. As such, as now refer to them as the “Mrs. Field’s Cookies.”

Side bar: I’ll have to dig up the picture of me on Biography Day, it’s GOLD. I look like an overweight, middle-aged colonial woman who lost her skirt to a pair of scissors.