A preview of the picks below. Full recommendations and notes throughout the article.
Baking sheets, particularly the ones with good nonstick surfaces, aren’t cheap. So when it was time for me to replace mine, I went with a more affordable version that I could use for whatever I needed to bake. But here’s the thing. I’m not a baker. I’m a person who bakes. There’s a distinction. Bakers know things about baking sheets that I only recently discovered, like the fact that there are different types of baking sheets for different purposes. For the life of me, I can’t figure out how I got by for so many years with just one baking sheet. It was the sheet I used to bake cookies on, or salmon, or roast veggies. The sheet I’d throw in the oven to make some impromptu garlic bread. The sheet that was beloved in all the right ways, save for that one brownish-orange caramelized sweet potato stain (courtesy of the 2014 harvest) that haunted the upper right-hand corner.
The pan is the problem.”
Dark-colored non-stick pans are apparently awful for cakes (although they’re sold as such at every grocery store I’ve been to for around $8, and I’ve dutifully purchased many, and there are zillions of recipes that call for buttering a nonstick pan). Lacking cooling racks of my own (I keep my baking pans in one of those slide-out cabinet shelf rack things that are slanted, so everything slides around and falls off, and mine falls over at least twice a week, actually), this is probably why my cakes are always lopsided and/or massively domed. As my sister-in-law put it, I’ve been “baking on hard mode for no reason.”
And this is where I will list the solutions I found on Amazon. Twenty-five mistakes. Twenty-five Amazon solutions. And I’ll keep track of how much these mistakes cost me. (SPOILER ALERT: It was more than you think.) Most of the items listed below were less than $30 and some were less than $10. But between all 25 of these mistakes? That’s a lot of ruined cookies, warped cookie sheets and sets of baking things I already own (duh.).
The Sheet Pan Mistakes
Buying the cheapest, thinnest sheet pan at the grocery store.
Buckled pans make a popping noise when they’re in the oven or on the stovetop. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s not good either, especially if it happens in the middle of preparing dinner. I’ve been buying pans for around $8 on special at my grocery store for the last 15 years or so, and they buckle within four months of buying them. Pans are expensive and it seems like the inexpensive ones don’t last forever.
Cheap pans can warp and bake unevenly. Heavy-gauge aluminum pans distribute heat nicely, don’t warp, and are virtually indestructible. The first time I used one (of the half sheet variety) to bake cookies, all of the cookies came out the same size and shade. I nearly shed a tear. For that alone, a heavy-gauge aluminum half sheet pan like this one belongs in your baking repertoire.
USA-made, commercial-grade aluminum, three pans for less than what I used to spend on the disposable kind. They heat evenly, they do not warp, and the rolled edges give you something to actually grip with an oven mitt. I have had mine for over a year and they look identical to day one.
View Pricing on AmazonUsing dark nonstick sheet pans for cookies.
Dark pans absorb more heat than light ones. This means cookies baked on them will cook faster. Cookies baked on dark pans often end up pale on top and burnt on the bottoms. Lighter colored aluminum pans are best for baking cookies. I learned this at the expense of about forty dozen cookies.
Uncoated aluminum baking sheets were also excellent at baking cookies (with golden all-over color and no burnt bottoms), better than other materials, even, because rather than absorbing heat like other baking sheets do, aluminum reflects it. The only exception: OXO’s ceramic-coated Pro baking sheets performed just as well, and they’re easier to clean.
The ceramic coating gives you nonstick performance without the dark-pan burning problem. It is also reinforced steel with a rolled-up rim, so it does not warp like the cheap stuff. This is the pan I reach for on a busy weeknight when I want easy cleanup and even cooking at the same time.
View Pricing on AmazonOwning only one sheet pan.
I can hear people now describing the behemoth as “rustic.” Rustic. And I suppose I could break it up, but then I’d just have a bunch of cookie pieces. Rustic cookie pieces. Besides, it’s not really all that big of a deal. Sure, I now have one over-sized cookie instead of two normal sized ones, but I can just divide it in half later when I want to eat it. Problem solved. … Right? Yeah. Rustic. (And yes, I’m aware that this means I have to stand guard by the oven while the cookies are baking instead of just setting a timer and going about my day. But hey, at least now I have an excuse to make cookies on Saturday afternoons.)
Invest in at least three sheet pans if you can. I know it sounds like overkill, but having three sheet pans to work with really helped speed up our baking process (we baked for a total of about forty minutes.). One pan would go in the oven, another would be cooling, and the third would be getting filled up with batter to be popped into the oven next. Having only two pans might seem like it’d be enough, but trust me, having that third pan will come in really handy.
Skipping the parchment paper.
Parchment paper makes cookies release easily from cookie sheets instead of having to scrape them off with a butter knife. And then scrape the cookie sheet with a butter knife to get all the cookie remnants off of it. And then use scouring pad and harsh soap to clean the cookie sheet because there are still remnants of cookies on the cookie sheet. I always thought parchment paper was reserved for the super pro Food Network cookie baking experts. But apparently not.
A good roll of parchment will last for months. Say goodbye to scrubbing burnt-on cookie dough and hello to pans that are free from being scratched up by metal spatulas. Parchment paper is a great time saver and will come in handy later on when we use my sloppy joe mix recipe for sheet-pan dinners since everything cooks up easier and cleans up easier.
The stay-flat coating means it does not curl up at the corners and slide around on you, and the SmartGrid lines printed on it are weirdly helpful for spacing out cookies evenly. One roll lasts me about three months of regular weekend baking, and the cleanup savings alone are worth it.
View Pricing on AmazonBuying parchment paper, then never using a silicone mat.
A silicone baking mat is reusable thousands of times (about three thousand uses per mat, in fact), making it both environmentally and economically friendly. All you have to do after using is give it a quick wipe down, toss it in the drawer, and voila. Ready to use again next time you’re baking. I used to be that person evangelizing the wonders of parchment paper to anyone who would listen until I was given a silicone baking mat as a hostess gift and realized that parchment paper competition has entered the chat, and it is winning.
Parchment paper has its place, I’ll admit, and I still use parchment any time I’m working with a super sticky dough (think cheese or caramel cookies), but for most other times, Silpat has won me over. Why? Cost. A roll of parchment paper will run you about $6 and give you, optimistically, about 60 uses (that’s if you’re baking cookies on sheet pans.). A Silpat costs about $25 and will last you thousands of bakes. Do the math.
The original Silpat, made in France, fits a standard half sheet pan, and lasts effectively forever. Nothing sticks to it. Cleanup is a damp sponge. It is one of those purchases where you do not understand how you lived without it until about week two, and then you cannot go back.
View Pricing on AmazonAssuming the cheaper silicone mats are basically the same.
Nope. I went with the cheaper option first thinking that Silpat would be a bit over the top for the cookie baker I am (aka about six times a year). The cheap stuff warped, gave off a slight chemical smell for about three uses, and started to discolor after only a few months. Ended up buying two replacements so it wasn’t much cheaper overall.
Exception: Amazon Basics Silicone Baking Mats. I was skeptical of these Amazon Basics silicone baking mats at first. They’re basically the same as Silpats, just a fraction of the price. And yet, these seem to be just as durable. We have three of them, one for each of our baking sheets. This means I can bake three different things at a time (say, during our big Saturday baking sessions) without having to wash a pan in between. Also, unlike parchment paper, these are reusable. The silicone is food-safe, and they come in a pack of three, for less than the cost of one Silpat.
The budget option that actually performs. Two mats per set, sized to fit a half sheet pan, and the silicone has held up through over a year of regular weekend use in my kitchen with no warping or discoloration. The right tool when you need more than one mat without the Silpat price tag.
View Pricing on AmazonNot owning a cooling rack.
I always allowed my cookies to cool on the baking sheet. This allowed the bottoms to continue to cook (from the heat still in the metal pan) and become darker than I would have liked (sometimes much darker). I just thought that’s the way cookies were. Wrong.
Glazed cookies set to cool on the rack. A cooling rack allows heat to escape and air to circulate which halts the cooking process. This allows the bottoms of cookies to properly set and prevents sogginess. Folding wire racks take up very little cabinet space and are an inexpensive tool I can’t believe I made do without for the 35 years I’ve been baking. Bonus: use as a platform for glazing/icing drippy treats.
It folds flat when you are not using it, which solves the storage problem that kept me from buying one for years. Stainless steel, dishwasher safe, and the legs are tall enough that you actually get airflow underneath. I bought one and immediately ordered a second because I kept needing both at once.
View Pricing on AmazonUsing flimsy cookie sheets for jellyrolls and bar cookies.
Learn the difference between a sheet pan and a jellyroll pan. I learned this one about 15 years too late. A jellyroll pan has lower sides and is intended for batters that are poured and need to cook thin (think sheet cake, brownies, etc.). Using a sheet pan for bar cookies resulted in burnt edges and a goopy center.
The Chicago Metallic pan set is what I consider the professional pan set. The sheet cake pans are the right size for bar cookies, brownies, and a nice sheet cake for a birthday (you know the ones I’m talking about.). It even includes a cooling rack that’s sized just right to fit on top of the pan. Small touches like that make all the difference.
A professional jelly roll pan plus a matching cooling rack that fits perfectly inside or on top. The heavy-duty steel does not warp at high heat, the nonstick coating actually holds up, and the rack-pan combination means you can roast vegetables on the rack with drippings catching below. Three tools in one purchase.
View Pricing on AmazonThe Cake Pan Mistakes
Using whatever cake pan I owned for every recipe.
I wondered why my cake layers weren’t even in height. I wondered why one layer was always a tad overdone while the other was underdone. I wondered why my cakes always looked a little sad. See, my cake pans weren’t a match. So, when a recipe called for two 9-inch pans, I’d use one 9-inch and one 8-inch. And wonder. And bake sad cakes.
Invest in a good set of round cake pans that are matched in size. Your layers will bake more evenly, stack better, and be easier to frost. I cannot stress enough the importance of having cake pans that are a match. Layers that bake in pans that are slightly different sizes bake at different rates, stack awkwardly, and are challenging to frost without giving away that architectural challenge.
Two matching pans, anodized aluminum that conducts heat beautifully and does not react with acidic batters like lemon or buttermilk cakes. The straight sides mean clean edges when you turn the cake out, which makes frosting about three times easier. This is the pan recipe developers actually use.
View Pricing on AmazonIgnoring the “USA Pan” recommendation in every recipe I read.
USA Pan. All of those baking bloggers I followed for years would talk about this brand in passing, and I’d skim over that part of their reviews because, well, a pan is a pan, right? Wrong. USA Pan’s pans are made with aluminized steel with this corrugated bottom (weird looking, but hear me out) that bakes SO evenly and releases baked goods quickly and easily. All without a coating that can scratch or wear away.
I bought a USA Pan round cake pan and baked a cake in it to try it out, and liked it so well I went back a week later and bought a second one so I could make layer cakes again. They bake so evenly. You can tell just by looking.
The corrugated surface looks unusual but increases airflow and gives you the most even browning of any cake pan I have used. Made in the USA, lifetime quality, and the proprietary nonstick coating is silicone-based instead of PFOA. Buy two so you can actually do a layer cake.
View Pricing on AmazonPutting up with domed, cracked cake tops forever.
It took me three-plus decades of baking cakes to figure out what bakers have known all along: cake tops are not supposed to dome (and crack). You know how, when you bake a cake, the center of the cake rises a bit higher than the edges and sometimes cracks as it cools? You know how, if you want level cake layers, you have to saw that part off? Well, it turns out that achieving a nice, level cake top isn’t actually an advanced baking skill. It’s what’s supposed to happen.
I use bake-even strips. These strips of fabric are soaked in water and wrapped around the outside of a pan before it’s baked. They ensure that the edges of baked goods don’t cook faster than the center (thus avoiding that dome-shaped center that rises higher than the edges). I can’t tell you how many flat cakes I’ve had since using bake-even strips. For less than ten dollars?? What were you thinking??
You soak them in water for a few minutes, wrap them around the pan, and bake. Two strips per set, which is what you need for layer cakes, and they last basically forever. The first cake I made using these came out so flat I genuinely thought I had done something wrong. I had not. That is what a cake is supposed to look like.
View Pricing on AmazonOwning a loaf pan that is the wrong shape.
I baked bread in a rectangle loaf pan that I got from a starter bakeware set. The loaf pan did its job fine, except for the fact that the loaves of bread I baked were taller in the middle and sloped downward toward each side. It wasn’t really possible to slice up these loaves into nice even pieces for making sandwiches. I didn’t know any better, though, and thought this is just what bread looked like when you made it yourself.
A pullman loaf pan is basically a rectangular loaf pan with straight sides and a sliding lid so your loaf bakes into a perfect rectangle and when you remove the lid and turn the loaf out you get … actual sandwich bread. With clean edges and perfectly even slices. It’s the same loaf I’ve been baking all along, it just looks like I got it from a fancy bakery now.
The sliding lid is the trick. Bread grows up against the lid and ends up rectangular and even, which means it slices like store-bought sandwich bread. Aluminized steel, nonstick, the same construction as their other pans, and it makes you feel like you suddenly know what you are doing.
View Pricing on AmazonNever using cast iron for baking.
I asked her three times how she did it and the answer was she baked it in cast iron. Cast iron? I thought cast iron pans were for cooking (think searing steaks or making delicious scrambled eggs in the morning) not for baking. But this woman had used a cast iron baker to make a deep-dish cornbread that was out of this world with its perfectly browned crust. I’m telling you there is nothing like cornbread baked in cast iron.
Cornbread (this goes SO well with my beef stew recipe from my instant pot, in case you were looking for an excuse), deep dish pizza, focaccia, casseroles, fruit cobblers, and on and on and on. Cast iron creates a super crispy, crackly crust on the outside of whatever you’re cooking, while the inside remains soft and tender. There’s really nothing else that conducts heat quite like cast iron and I’ve been using my pans way more than I anticipated.
Pre-seasoned at the factory, ready to use out of the box, and Lodge cast iron is the kind of thing that lasts five generations if you do not actively try to destroy it. The casserole shape is the rare cast iron piece that works as well in the oven as on the stovetop, and the crust it produces on baked goods is genuinely a different category from anything else.
View Pricing on AmazonThe Set Mistakes
Buying bakeware piece by piece over a decade.
Each piece has a memory. The cake pan was from my first apartment, the cookie sheet from a 2015 trip to Target, the muffin tin from a yard sale. They don’t match. They don’t stack neatly. They frustrate me a little every time I open the cabinet because they don’t fit together.
Buying pots and pans together as a set also saves you the hassle of making sure everything will work well together. All pieces from the same set are created to fit together, so you can save space by stacking pots and pans or nesting lids. Everything will perform similarly, so you won’t have to keep track of which piece is from your good set and which one you picked up at a yard sale. This helps cut down on kitchen clutter and makes it easier to find what you’re looking for.
Ten pieces, every baking pan you actually use, all from the same brand and meant to stack and store together. Dishwasher safe, which is rare for nonstick bakeware. The full set, all at once, costs less than buying the pieces individually over time, and it ends the mismatched-collection problem in one shot.
View Pricing on AmazonUnderestimating the budget-friendly sets.
Bakeware. I went through a phase of thinking that snobby = better, and expensive = snobby. I was wrong. About both. Like mascara, the most expensive bakeware isn’t necessarily the best bakeware. The Rachael Ray Cucina bakeware line, for example, has been kicking expensive bakeware’s ass for a fraction of the price.
The pieces are basic, there’s ten of them, and the bright color makes them easy to spot in a cabinet. They’re also sturdy and haven’t gotten dinged up in more than a year of regular use. If a friend asked me what cutlery to get for a starter apartment, this is what I’d recommend.
The best budget set on the market, full stop. Heavy-gauge steel that holds shape at high heat, latte-colored handles that are easy to grip, and the cranberry color makes pieces easy to spot in a deep cabinet. Ten pieces, real performance, and a price that does not require a second thought.
View Pricing on AmazonNot having a small toaster-oven set for small batches.
This meant that baking for one or two people wasn’t practical. But I hated turning on the oven and wasting all that energy just to bake four cookies. And I didn’t want to bake twenty-four when we’d only eat maybe four. So more often than not, we went cookie-less. Baking had become this “go big or go home” affair and most of the time I chose home.
A four-piece toaster-oven set means you can roast a chicken thigh on a Tuesday (yes, just one) or whip up a batch of six cookies in seven minutes. The ease of baking for one or two removes the psychological hurdle I once faced when thinking about whipping up a baked good for such a small batch. And so I bake more and, consequently, order takeout less.
Four small-scale pans sized for a standard toaster oven, including a small baking sheet, cake pan, and cookie sheet. Steel construction with reliable nonstick, all dishwasher safe. This is the set I did not realize I needed until I had it, and now I use it three or four times a week.
View Pricing on AmazonGoing for the cheap heavy-duty sheet that turned out to be the actual gold standard.
Bakeware is funny that way. Sometimes the most expensive pan isn’t the best pan. Sometimes the cheapest pan is the best pan. More often than not, though, the best pan falls somewhere in between. Take the USA Pan half sheet pan, for example. Cheaper than you might expect, this workhorse of a pan is a staple in many pro kitchens because, well, it just works.
The corrugations let air flow around food for better browning, and they’re made of thick-gauge aluminized steel, so warping isn’t an issue. These are the only pans in our collection that I’d describe as virtually indestructible, and they’re also made in the USA, which is a nice bonus. My oldest sheet has seen four years of heavy rotation and still looks brand-new. If you want to invest in just one baking sheet, this should be it.
The professional-grade half sheet that home cooks should know about. Aluminized steel with the corrugated bottom for even heat and airflow, made in the USA, and the kind of pan a serious bakery would actually use. Spend the money once, never replace it.
View Pricing on AmazonThe Storage & Tools Mistakes
Storing bakeware in a leaning tower at the bottom of the cabinet.
But the pans were scratched and battered, and every time I opened the cabinet the stack would shift, sending a pan plummeting to the floor to be stepped on (once a week, give or take, an experience I cannot recommend, at any age, but especially in your forties). My baking sheets lived in a pile. I resented that pile.
Invest in a vertical bakeware rack for your baking pans. Pans won’t slide around, scratch each other or fall on your toes when you open the cabinet. The rack keeps each pan accessible and separate from the others. You’ll be amazed how such an inexpensive item can make baking easier and more pleasant.
The adjustable steel wires slide to fit whatever pans you actually own, from cookie sheets to muffin tins to cake pans. It sits inside the cabinet and turns the pan-tower-of-doom into a tidy row of vertical slots. Two minutes to install, ten years of foot-related peace.
View Pricing on AmazonMeasuring with mismatched spoons that may or may not have started life as a set.
My spoons were a mishmash. I had a teaspoon from one set, a tablespoon from another, and a quarter-teaspoon whose handle had been bent from having once gotten stuck in the garbage disposal. After use I would toss the spoons into the drawer and try to find them later, only to have them disappear forever into the depths. Adding the spoons to my list of kitchen tasks made recipes that much longer.
But if they’re magnetic, you don’t have that problem. The pieces stack together using magnets so they stay nice and cohesive (and won’t slide around when you’re not looking), and many of them have the measurements conveniently (and legibly.) marked on them. These may sound like small things, but they’re not. Believe me.
The strong magnets actually hold, which is the difference between a set that stays a set and a set that immediately becomes a sad assortment. Stainless steel, dishwasher safe, color-coded markings for the measurements. They stack into one block in the drawer and the hunt-for-a-teaspoon problem ends.
View Pricing on AmazonOwning the wrong brand of nonstick set forever.
I also love baking, but I have to say that the quality of your pans makes a huge difference. When I was learning to bake, all I had were cheapo (non-name brand) pans and they warped up after just a few uses. I finally splurged and got a Wilton set and my goodness, what a difference. I didn’t know there were different lines of Wilton pans either. I still have my inexpensive Wilton pans and they are okay but when I used my new high end, warp resistant Wilton pans for the first time I thought, this is like the difference between driving a hand me down car and the car of your dreams. I’m so glad you had such great comments on your pans.
Invest in gold-toned nonstick bakeware for longevity. Cheaper starter sets tend to include entry-level bakeware that can scratch and warp easily. Look for high-quality bakeware with a durable gold nonstick coating and warp-resistant construction. If your current nonstick pans scratch just looking at them askance, treat yourself to an upgrade.
Wilton’s serious line, not the starter-set stuff. The warp-resistant construction means it stays flat through a thousand bakes, the gold-colored nonstick is several grades up from the basic black coating, and it is one of the few nonstick pans where the surface holds up over years instead of months.
View Pricing on AmazonThe Habits That Cost The Most
Throwing out scratched nonstick pans instead of preventing the scratches.
I used to go through a pan every year because I’d store them with metal utensils between the pans, use metal spatulas in them, and when something got stuck I’d scrub them with the rough side of a sponge. At the end of a year the pan would be suspect with half the coating gone. Every year I’d replace it.
Invest in good pans and protect your investment. Line shelves with paper or felt so pans don’t scrape against each other. Use silicone or wooden utensils to avoid scratching the inside of pans. Good pans can last five years instead of one. No more buying pans every January.
Not understanding the difference between aluminum and steel.
Steel is more versatile because it heats up slowly and distributes heat more evenly. Aluminum heats up quickly and doesn’t distribute heat as evenly. I use aluminum for things like cookies where I want everything to bake quickly and evenly and steel for things like roasted vegetables where I want the food to caramelize slowly. I’ve used “metal” pans for so long without knowing there’s a difference. Who knew.
You’ll notice that you’ll get different results on aluminum and steel sheets, even for the same recipe. Cookies baked on aluminum sheets will be chewy, and will be crispy if you use steel sheets. Veggies baked on steel sheets will have a nice char, while they will remain softer if baked on aluminum sheets. This is a great thing to know before starting your baking journey, and will help you pick the right sheet for the right recipe.
Preheating the pan with the oven, then wondering why everything was overdone.
However, it’s worth noting that this won’t work for every single recipe. If you’re making something like biscuits, pizza or focaccia that benefits from a screaming hot pan and searing crust, preheating your pan makes sense. Otherwise, you’ll end up with baked goods that are overcooked on the outside and underdone on the inside.
I realized that I’d been preheating pans for everything because I’d mistakenly thought it was universally good practice, when it’s really just another technique that’s called for in some recipes but not others. So if your recipe doesn’t call for preheating, don’t.
Never weighing flour, only scooping.
This isn’t pan-related, but it can ruin many baked goods so I’m mentioning it here. If you’ve been scooping flour from the bag with a measuring cup you may have been using as much as fifty percent more flour than the recipe called for. Scooping packs down the flour and increases the amount you add. Too much flour makes cookies dense, cakes dry and breads heavy.
Buy a kitchen scale. Start weighing your flour. This alone will improve your baking immeasurably, and will also enable you to follow European recipes, which almost universally give quantities by weight rather than volume. It’s probably the highest-ROI baking improvement you can make for not very much money.
Not labeling anything, ever.
I would grab ingredients without thinking, only to realize mid-recipe that I used baking soda instead of baking powder, or flour without realizing that it was self-raising. I’d use brown sugar that had been sitting in my pantry for who knows how long and wonder why my cookies tasted off. It wasn’t until I actually threw away the flour I’d had for over a year and the ancient baking powder that had long since lost its leavening powers that I realized the importance of keeping up with what’s in your pantry and when it expires.
date everything when it’s opened (or label little bags/jars if you’re transferring into better looking containers) write “expires August 2026” on the side of the box/bag of baking powder/soda when you purchase it None of these suggestions are fancy. All you need is a Sharpie and maybe a roll of removable labels. But they will save you recipes, and they make me happy (using up flour just before it expires by making a big batch of my favorite instant pot chicken recipes’ dredges/breading, for example).
And that, friends, is my twenty-five. None of those items required a personality transplant or an immediate dive into an Instagram account dedicated solely to photos of bubbling vats of sourdough. I just had to admit that, hey, maybe it was the pan. And maybe tiny changes could lead to big results (in ways I’d never expected). Now, my cookies bake evenly from one end of the sheet pan to the other. My cakes are level topped. My loaves of bread come out of the oven looking more like loaves of bread and less like deflated, sad triangles. My kitchen doesn’t feel like it’s at war with me anymore. My go-to recipes for instant pot mashed potatoes and chicken tortilla soup both feature cast iron skillets and baking sheets in ways that former-Me would never have dreamed of. Here’s the thing: none of those changes required huge leaps of faith. And when you’re using the right tools for the job, everything is easier. Who would’ve known? Former-Me certainly would not have.
The pan really was the problem. Several pans were, in fact, the problem. I am sorry to my old pans. I am also not that sorry.