12 Ways to Use Parchment Paper ( And One Way You Definitely Shouldn’t)

If you didn’t already know this, today’s blog post will teach you that parchment paper is one of our most useful tools in the kitchen. It is heat-resistant, non-stick, and makes clean-up easy!

Here are 12 ways to use parchment paper and one way you should not:

1. Bake cakes and brownies
2. Bake cookies
3. Bake cupcakes and muffins
4. Add dry ingredients to a mixing bowl
5. Make a landing pad for drips and drizzles
6. Create a DIY brag for decorating
7. Shape and store compound butters and cookie dough
8. Roasting acidic fruits
9. Baking fish
10. Baking granola
11. Create a parchment pouch for steaming
12. Roasting some (but not all) vegetables

• But, definitely don’t use it for broiling!

Photo Credit: Shantanu Starick

Is there anything parchment paper can’t do? It’s heat-resistant, non-stick, and makes clean-up a breeze. It’s available in white and natural brown, both by the roll and in super-convenient pre-cut sheets. You can re-use pieces of parchment as many times as you wish (such as when baking batch after batch of cookies, like our current peanut butter addictions), and some brands are even compostable.

So why are you only using it once a week? Parchment is so useful it can come in handy almost daily. Here are all the ways you can use the stuff.

1. BAKE CAKES AND BROWNIES

If you’ve ever baked a layer cake or tray of bar cookies only to have them become permanently glued to the pan, you know why parchment paper is a baker’s best friend. Best practices will have you grease the cake or baking pan (to help the paper stay in place), line it with parchment, then grease the parchment to make baked good liberation go as smoothly as possible.

And to make removal even easier, try this trick for rectangular and square-shaped pans: Cut one piece of parchment to cover the bottom of the pan and two inner sides with a little extra hanging over the lip on each side. Cut another piece of parchment to fit crosswise, covering the bottom and the other two sides (again with a little extra hanging over the lip). Once your treats have baked and cooled, use the flaps to lift them out of the pan in one piece, then peel the paper back from the sides and slice directly on the parchment.

2. BAKE COOKIES

Lining a baking sheet with parchment before baking not only helps release your cookies easily, it also prevents the bottoms from getting too dark. Win-win.

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