Something I have noticed about newer recipes--and something that bothers me about newer recipes--is that many call for parchment paper on pans when it is definitely not necessary.
Most cookie recipes, for example, instruct bakers to line their pans with parchment paper. But most cookies have enough fat that they don't stick to a pan. At all.
Ditto brownies. And roasted vegetables.
Maybe it has something to do with browning? Maybe it's to make clean-up easier?
Maybe they just want to sell yet another disposable product.
I don't know. What I do know is that the only thing I really think parchment paper is necessary for is lining my tortilla press when I'm making tortillas. It's the only thing the tortillas won't stick to.
But other than that, you should feel free to ignore the instruction to line pans with parchment paper. I always do.
6 comments:
I hear, ya! I don't use parchment paper, either.
Linda
I don't either.
I agree. I do have one of those silicone mats that I use for easier cleanup under some items.
Same! I have found exactly one cookie recipe for which parchment is helpful. And I figured it out by skipping it. Of course, lol. But out of zillions of things, one isn't bad.
For people who bake bacon, everything will advise to line the pan with foil, but if you spray the pan with baking spray, there's no need for foil. It's not the simplest cleanup ever, but the baking spray loosens the lovely crispy stuff enough that it mostly runs off with the grease, and then washing the sheet pan isn't much problem.
Removing layer cakes from the pans is much less stressful if one uses parchment paper rather than trusting to the butter and flour routine. For cookies, the paper is just a tiny time saver. By the way, it took me YEARS to figure out that if I folded the paper, I could cut two circles at once. Huge loud DUH! For traditional fruitcakes, lining the pans with heavy brown paper (I cut from paper bags) is required. Parchment paper is not heavy enough to protect the cake from burning a bit during the long baking that a very fruity fruitcake requires.
My brownies always stick if I don't use paper. I agree with all the rest.
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