Parchment vs. Silicone Baking Mat

Also known as a “silpat,” silicone baking mats have advantages over parchment paper in that they're easy to slip into a baking sheet, and their comparative weight (60 to 117 grams) helps them stay put better than even our favorite parchment sheets (4 grams). This comes in handy when you're working with clingy batters for tuiles or Florentines. We never had to worry about the offset spatula pulling the mat up, as sometimes happens with parchment. And because these mats usually sit flat, they produce tuiles with perfectly smooth undersides—not always the case with parchment which is sometimes sold in rolls or folded to fit in smaller packaging.

Parchment paper can now be purchased cut to a size that fits a standard baking sheet, making them a real contender to silicone baking mats. In the past we've found that creased or curled parchment can affect the appearance of cookies and cakes that end up creased on the bottom or curled on the edges. This is easily avoidable now. Parchment also has an advantage over the mats as some mats are so slick, certain cookies spread out more on them which can translate to cookies that are more browned around the edges and slightly crispier than those baked on parchment.

We use both parchment and silicone baking mats in our test kitchen, and we’d be remiss if we didn’t point out that they are not just for cookies but for everything from chocolate bark to roast chicken. We recommend you stock both and you will soon discover which recipes are best suited for each product. And if you choose one over the other, you’re still cooking with a perfectly nonstick surface on your baking sheet.