Building a Better Cookie

If you do much Christmas cookie baking - make that if you do ANY cookie baking at all - the next thing you’ll want to grab at the store is Reynolds Parchment Paper.

If you’re like me, you spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Whether it’s baking, cooking, or cleaning - your kitchen is your number one hangout! The cooking and baking part are always enjoyable and are even my favorite hobbies. The cleaning? Not so much! What would you say if I told you I’ve come across something that makes the enjoyable aspects of kitchen life more fruitful and the cleanups much, much easier? Well, thank you, I love you too.

I bake a lot of cookies - whether it’s around Christmastime or not. How many cookies do I bake each year. Well, let’s put it this way: Cookie Monster keeps trying to steal me away from my husband. He calls day and night, e-mails, sends letters, just happens to be at the store when I am…

I had never before used parchment paper in any of my baking, even though I’d seen it done again and again on my favorite tv channel, Food TV. It was just never something I even considered.

This year, when I saw Reynolds Parchment Paper sheets in the grocery store, I decided to give parchment paper a try. I mean, I’ve used so much Reynolds aluminum foil and plastic wrap that I should own part of the company by now. It’s a name I’ve welcomed into my kitchen every since I had a kitchen to welcome it into, so if Reynolds thought something was special enough to make - I deemed it special enough to buy.

The first thing I made with the Parchment Sheets were Pecan Sandies. These are one of my favorite cookies, ever. I make them all year long and they never last more than 2 days. Suffice to say, all 5 of us love them!

The only problem with Sandies is that sometimes, when you’re making several batches, the bottoms of the cookies get a little harder than the rest of the cookie. Hate that!

Honestly, with the Reynolds Parchment Paper, the cookies had the same perfect texture - from the top to the bottom.

I also used a sheet under some mozarella bread I made for lunch. I lined the cookie sheet with the paper, then lined up my slices of Italian Bread. I made a spread of softened butter, chopped chives, and chopped garlic. After I spread the butter onto the slices, I topped each off with shredded mozarella. I baked it at 350 degrees until the cheese melted. This bread is delicious served with spaghetti, salads, or soup. As you can imagine, clean up is usually incredibly messy - with remnants of cheese and garlic left on the pan. But with the Reynolds Parchment paper, clean up was a snap - or, rather, a pull, crumple, and toss. As in, pull the paper off the pan, crumple it, and toss it in the trash. Easy Beasy!

Where have these parchment paper sheets been all my culinary life?

I’ve also found that they’re ideal for rolling out cookie dough. I put one under the dough, which my counter top appreciates, and one on top. Then I roll the dough out between the sheets. No more nasty rolling pin to wash!

They’re also perfect for using in the microwave. I’ve used them under food to make cleaning the plate easier and I’ve used them on top of the food to cut down on the spits and splatters that happen during the nuking.

I can’t wait to take them for a test drive with manicotti, barbecued chicken, lasagna, spinach-artichoke dip, etc. I also just realized how much they’ll come in handy when I’m making fudge!

I actually have an appointment with Chocolate Walnut Fudge and Peanut Butter fudge this week. Looks like I’d better grab some more Reynolds Parchment Paper Sheets>

Oh! I forgot one - When baking homemade bread, the parchment sheets are perfect for covering the dough as it rises. You can then cut the sheet down to the size you need and line the bread pan with it. Once again, the clean up is a snap. When there are so many things going on (especially around the Holidays), who wants to be in the kitchen on clean up duty all the time?!

Now that I think about it, I’m going to grab two packages instead of just one.

Click HERE for more tips and tricks for using Reynolds Parchment Paper Sheets, as well as information on hosting Cookie Exchange Parties! - Sounds like delicious fun.