Reynolds Settles the Debate: This Is How Many Times You Can Reuse Parchment Paper

It’s the time of year when everyone is in the kitchen baking cookies. Flour, butter, and sugar are ready to be mixed, shaped, and shared. Savvy bakers know that a key ingredient for batches of perfect cookies is a roll of parchment paper.

A layer of parchment paper underneath cookie dough will allow it to bake more evenly. The nonstick quality will help prevent baked goods from cracking or breaking when sliding a spatula under them and lifting them off the baking sheet when they are finished. And sometimes when all is said and done, the paper hardly looks used at all.

But can you reuse that parchment paper for another batch of your favorite goodies?

What Is Parchment Paper?

Parchment paper creates a greaseproof and nonstick heat-resistant layer between your food and the baking pan.

This helpful kitchen tool is sold by the roll, like aluminum foil or plastic wrap, so you can tear off what you need for a particular task according to size. Precut sheets of parchment are available in varying sizes and are handy for baking tasks, as well. The most common sizes will cover the average sheet pans.

Why Use Parchment Paper for Cookie Baking?

Perfect for recipes that call for ungreased or greased pans alike, the use of parchment paper means there is no need to further grease the cooking surface.

It also prevents dough from spreading too much in the oven and losing its shape throughout baking. A layer of this go-to paper helps to avoid a batch of cookies that come out of the oven looking too flat with over-baked edges.

Can You Reuse Parchment Paper for Baking?

Now back to the question at hand. What do you do with the piece of parchment paper after serving up a warm batch of cookies fresh from the oven? Can you reuse the same sheet of parchment paper?

Long story short: Yes!

As long as the parchment paper isn't too greasy or messy after use, it can do another round or two in the oven.

Baking Experts Weigh-In

We reached out to the experts at Reynolds Kitchens to see what they had to say on the topic.

“Our Reynolds Kitchen expert, Charry Brown, has run numerous tests on parchment paper reuse. Consumers can use Reynolds Kitchens Parchment Paper for a complete batch of cookies which is usually 36 cookies baked in 3 groups of 12. This is true for baking both scratch recipes and prepared refrigerated doughs.”

And when it comes to reusing the parchment paper they tell us the original piece of parchment can be saved and used again until it becomes too messy.

“It’s reusable up to three times. We recommend against saving the sheet beyond that use. If the dough has ingredients that melt onto the paper (i.e. chocolate chips/chunks) and cannot be wiped off, use a new, clean sheet to avoid remnant ingredients from burning onto paper or ruining your delicious results!”

Baking and biscuit expert Chadwick Boyd says, “I try to reuse parchment a few times as long as it is still clean and intact. I keep the liners in a drawer to reuse when I bake. I also save a crumpled-up piece of parchment to blind bake my pies and flat sheets of previously baked parchment to roll out pie dough.”

The Bottom Line

After you fill the kitchen with the scent of all your favorite cookies baking, remove the parchment paper from the baking pan for an easy cleanup—then save it for later.