The Best Cookie Sheets

As the name implies, we use cookie sheets to bake cookies. The sheets may essentially all be flat pieces of metal, but that doesn’t mean they perform similarly. Cookie sheets come in different sizes, materials, thicknesses, and finishes. Shapes vary, too, with some offering a place to hold on to with multiple raised edges, a dedicated handle, or both. We assembled a lineup covering these variables and set to work baking Cowboy Cookies, Easy Holiday Sugar Cookies, and All-Butter Snickerdoodles.

Before we continue: Cookie sheets are not the same as rimmed baking sheets, though their names are sometimes used interchangeably. They can be used for some of the same tasks, including baking cookies, but there are important differences between them and several advantages to owning a dedicated cookie sheet.

Rimmed baking sheets typically have a 1-inch rim around all four sides, while cookie sheets usually have only one or two lower raised edges. It’s easier to remove cookies with a spatula or by sliding parchment paper off the pan in one go when there’s no rim to maneuver around.

Cookie sheets also typically have more usable baking space, so you can bake large cookies without worrying about them running into each other or the raised edge of a rimmed baking sheet. The lack of rims also means air circulates around a cookie sheet better than it does around a rimmed baking sheet, since the air current isn’t blocked by the pan’s rims, so the hot air has more contact with the food it’s cooking. This increase in airflow can slightly speed up baking time.

Lastly, since rimmed baking sheets get a lot of use roasting, broiling, and baking, they often darken and dull over time. This discoloration can cause food to brown more quickly in the oven (read more about that here). While that is a great thing for roasting vegetables or meat, it can potentially cause cookies to overbake. Therefore, you might want a pristine, dedicated pan on which to bake your cookies. Here’s how to find a great one.

• Reasonably Large Usable Surface Area: Cookie sheets should have more usable baking space than a rimmed baking sheet, but some pans in our lineup had the same or even less baking space than a rimmed baking sheet. Those with around 200 square inches of usable baking space were roomy without being unwieldy. More space allowed us to bake large cookies that didn’t run into one another and to more easily maneuver a spatula around the cookies when transferring them. 

• Two Distinct Raised Edges: All of the cookie sheets we tested had at least one raised edge. Cookie sheets with one or more well-defined raised edges make them easier to hold, which is especially useful when handling a hot sheet with bulky oven mitts. Our winner featured two raised edges on its two shorter sides. Because we could grab either side, the sheets were easier to rotate during baking and remove from the oven.

• One Layer of Sturdy Metal: Thick metal promotes even baking and resists warping. Our favorite cookie sheets were one layer of aluminum or steel and ranged in thickness from almost 1 millimeter to roughly 2.5 millimeters.

• Sheets That Are Too Big or Too Small: One cookie sheet we tested had almost 250 square inches of baking space. It was so large that it was challenging to hold with one hand, which we occasionally do while opening the oven door with the other. On the flipside, overly small cookie sheets didn’t give us enough room. We had to carefully adjust our cookie placement to ensure that they didn’t run into each other. And even then, because the cookies were very close to the edge of the pan, it was easy to accidentally smash them with our oven mitt.

• Heavy Models: The cookie sheets we tested ranged from about 1 pound to nearly 4 pounds. Cookie sheets that weighed about 3 pounds or more were hard to handle comfortably.

• Slightly Raised Edges: A few of the cookie sheets in our lineup had just one slightly raised edge. Cookie sheets without a clear raised edge or handle were hard to grip.

• Insulated Models: Insulated cookie sheets have air sandwiched between two thin layers of metal. Insulation slows down baking and reduces browning, which you might want when baking delicate cookies. But these were a no for us for many reasons.
• They produced unevenly browned cookies. The extra insulation creates a barrier to heat, causing cookies in the center of the pan to bake more slowly than those around the sides. The cookies around the edge browned more quickly because they were more exposed to the heat coming in from the side. 

• They cooked slowly and increased spreading. Insulated cookie sheets were about two to three times thicker than the other cookie sheets we tested. Because insulation slows heat transfer, cookies from these pans often didn’t get heat from below quickly enough to set them before they spread, and we ended up with flat, wide cookies.
• They warped during use. According to our science editor, Paul Adams, this is because the insulation makes the sheet heat unevenly, and the hotter parts of the metal expanded more than the cool parts of the metal, which caused warping.

• Nonstick Models: Several of the pans we tested had nonstick coatings, and cookies baked on them easily released. We call for using parchment paper on almost every cookie recipe in our archive, but you can skip using parchment paper on these pans. That said, while we love the ease of baking on nonstick cookie sheets, we know from years of testing that nonstick coatings break down over time and the sheets need to be replaced. For cookie sheets, we slightly prefer the lasting durability of uncoated pans.

• Corrugated Cookie Sheets: Pans that have a textured baking surface, with ridges or patterns imprinted into the pan, are called corrugated cookie sheets. These corrugations are meant to increase air flow and promote even browning. Each corrugated cookie sheet in our lineup baked cookies evenly—as did cookie sheets without corrugations. So, while we don’t mind corrugations, we also don’t think they’re necessary. Just note that the bottoms of the cookies baked on a corrugated sheet will be patterned.

• Stainless-Steel Pans: Some people want to avoid aluminum and nonstick cookware and bakeware for health reasons, so we included two stainless-steel cookie sheets in our lineup as alternatives. Both sheets did a great job of evenly baking cookies. However, they had notable drawbacks. The usable baking surface of one of the stainless-steel pans was woefully small. The other sheet was stainless-steel clad, meaning it is made of aluminum sandwiched between two pieces of stainless steel. It was the heaviest in our lineup, weighing about 4 pounds. We needed to use both hands when maneuvering it in and out of the oven. Plus, its large handle added so much width to the pan that the handle knocked into the oven door when we shut it. If you prefer baking on stainless steel, we think the Williams Sonoma Thermo-Clad Stainless-Steel Cookie Sheet is the best option, but because of its weight and size we didn’t love it. We will continue testing to find better options.