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Do I really need a cooling rack? What’s the deal with cookie scoops? Is parchment paper the same as waxed paper? We took these questions and more to the Betty Crocker Test Kitchen’s pastry chef, Carrie Franzen—the brain behind Betty’s Christmas cookies and many more desserts. Carrie shared her list of essential, nice-to-have and semi-pro tools to help us make sense of all the baking equipment out there.
(For the record, the answers to the above questions are: yes, you need a cooling rack; once you get a cookie scoop, you’ll wonder how you lived without it for so long; and no—parchment and waxed paper are very different!)
The Essential Cookie Making Tools
Just as cookies are relatively simple baked treats, the tools needed to make them are too. You likely have basics, like:
- a mixing bowl,
- a wooden spoon for stirring,
- rubber spatulas in a couple different sizes for scraping out your bowl and
- a silicone spatula or flat, thin metal spatula for removing hot, fragile cookies from their baking sheet.
In addition to these basics, you’ll need the correct cookie sheets and measuring tools, plus a cooling rack. Here’s what we consider to be cookie baking essentials and the qualities you should look for when purchasing these tools.
Cookie sheets
The best ones are shiny, silver-colored aluminum sheets without sides. These sheets reflect your oven’s heat, so cookies bake evenly and brown properly. While it’s helpful to have two cookie sheets, so you can prep one batch while the other one is in the oven, you can get by with only one. Just remember, you need to allow your cookie sheet to cool in between batches for perfectly baked cookies. Here’s how to speed up cooling, without warping your sheet: Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes (or until sheet comes to room temperature), run under cold water and dry completely.
Cookie Sheets to Avoid:
- Dark-colored or nonstick sheets, as they can result in overbrowned cookies.
- Insulated cookie sheets can lead to under-browned cookies.
- Jelly-roll pans may prevent cookies from browning evenly, because they have four sides.
Measuring cups and spoons
You will need liquid measuring cups, solid measuring cups and measuring spoons. It’s important to use the correct tools (and measuring technique) as it will result in the right amount of ingredients and ultimately a dough that turns out correctly.
- Solid measuring cups, typically made of metal or plastic, should be used for dry ingredients, like flour, brown and granulated (white) sugar.
- Liquid measuring cups, typically made of glass or plastic, are used to measure milk, oil and other ingredients. Always check your liquid measurement by looking at eye level.
- Measuring spoons are used to measure small amounts of both dry and liquid ingredients, like baking powder and vanilla.
Rolling Pin
A rolling pin can be a loose term. It could mean your grandma’s solid maple pin or just something basic you pick up at your local kitchen store. (If you’re really in a pinch, a wine bottle will do the trick.)
A Cooling Rack
A metal cooling rack is essential to making perfectly baked cookies, because cookies don’t stop baking the moment they leave the oven. Setting your hot cookie sheet on a cooling rack for a minute or two allows cookies to set up enough that you can remove them without breaking. Leave the cookies for much longer though, and they’ll brown too much on the bottom. Transferring from the pan to the cooling rack will allow air to circulate all around the cookies and stop them baking.
With these tools, you’ve got what you need to whip up a batch of cookies. When you’re ready to invest, consider the following tools.
