Do A Silpat And Silicone Mats Do The Same Thing?
Baking By sugarbaker Updated 9 Aug 2006 , 11:55pm by SweetThistleCakes
I'm going to make my first batch of cookies this weekend. I have been looking at what supplies I will need and what things everyone mentions makes a difference...I have noticed on the article "how to bake and decorate cookies" the silpat is used both to roll/cut and bake the cookies on. I live in a small town where the only place to shop is wal-mart, I'm not sure if the have the silpat but I looked on the web site and found a silicone mat, will that work just the same?
Oh, another question...What baking sheet turns out the best results? Will a jellyroll pan work, becuase if it does it could serve dual purposes, right?
TIA 
Tina
I have silicone mats (KitchenAid) that I don't love! The first time I baked cookies on them (chocolate chip), I had to scrape them off the mat! I went back and read the directions 
and saw that I was supposed to spray them first. Doesn't that defeat the purpose? I do use them for kneading pizza dough and they are great for that. I really wanted the Silpat sheets in the first place, but these were a gift. I would hold out for the Silpat sheets if you can. Maybe order a few from Amazon and get free shipping? But if you're like me, when you want to bake, you want to bake NOW!! 
I love, love, love my Silpat's. I follow the directions for the "How to bake and decorate cookies" and put my dough between two silpat's to roll it out. I then cut with my cutters, put that sheet in the freezer for 15 minutes, by then my oven is ready and in goes the cookie sheet. In the meantime I have rolled out another sheet of cookies and have popped them in the freezer. By the time the first batch is ready to come out of the oven, the ones from the freezer are ready to go into the oven and I already have another batch rolled out ready to go in to the freezer. I love this method, the cookies keep their shape and bake up wonderfully. Until you get your Silpat's I would use parchment paper in a pinch. The Silpat's do not need to be greased or sprayed and clean is easy. Best of luck to you!
So can I roll out the dough between the parchment paper?? Can I knead the mmf on parchment as well?? At least until I can buy the silpat mats. What do ya think?
Yes, sugarbaker roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper, I would not recommend waxed paper. When I tried it the waxed paper left a lot of wrinkles on my cookie dough that I had to "iron" out with parchment anyway! Should have used that to begin with! Is there a Linens and Things anywhere near you? I bought my mats there for about $14. each but used the 20% off coupon for each one I bought. I have 3 and 3 baking sheets, one for the oven, one for the freezer and one to roll out, it's a great system they have worked out for us! Aren't we lucky that alot of the kinks of baking have already been worked out for us?
I've only rolled my MMF on my counter and have not used my mats or parchment for that. Give it a try and let us know how it works! Thanks and best of luck! 
Well I just re-read the "how to" and it says not to use parchment or wax paper so that answers that.
I am in the middle of baking some cookies right now so I wanted to add/remind you of one more thing. Put the unbaked cookies in the freezer not the refrigerator. The refrigerator is not cold enough. When you put them in the freezer for 15 minutes it really doesn't FREEZE them but it makes it so much easier to pull the excess dough away from your cutouts. I was trying to make a shortcut and put one sheet in the freezer and one in the frig and could not get the dough apart from the cutouts as it was too soft. That's one more reason I love the Silpat's...it elimates having to add more flour to your dough when you roll, more flour makes your dough tough. Best of luck!
You have helped me so much, thank you. I am going to make my mmf then start on the cookie dough. I have some parchment paper so I'll try that for now. Unfortunately, I am close to 100 miles from the nearest store like you mentioned, I do think there is a small, very small, kitchen supply store here, I'll check there Monday for the mats.
Thanks Again!
Girly girl, don't get your shorts in a twist...you were the next person on my list to call with this information!
I don't have any silpats so I always roll my cookie dough out between parchment paper. I roll it out right out of the bowl and then put it in the refrigerator for just a little while. I then sprinkly a little powdered sugar over the top, turn it over so it is on the bottom and then cut out the shapes. They come right out and into the freezer they go. I always bake my suger cookies frozen. They come out wonderful and really dont lose their shapes. Good luck!
Hi,
Just a quick question, I'm interested in getting a couple of Silicon sheets. I won't be getting Silpats because they aren't available in Australia, but a similar product.
My question is, can you successfully roll out dough, and cut out your shape on the silicon mat, without damaging the mat? I would imagine it would leave cut marks? Won't the next batch of cookies have marks in them due to the marks in the mat?
Many thanks for your replies!
Danni
I LOVE my Silpats. I have noticed that the "silicon" sheets and such sometimes leave a filmish-like baked on sheen that my Silpats dont leave behind. I have 7 Silpats, one of whick is a "Rolpat" which I use only for my fondant and such. They are well worth the $$ and I am lucky enough to have a S/O that works for Sur La Table that gets them pretty cheap!
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