I have been busy baking batches and batches of holiday cookies (and don’t worry, they have all been made without refined sugar, no dairy and no refined grains). After posting all of my cookie recipes I received a good number of questions asking advice on how to select the best non toxic baking pan.
Without a doubt, I am a firm believer that healthy food starts with healthy cookware. For the most part it is not really all that hard to find non-toxic pots and pans if you know what to look for (my favorite “green” cookware happens to be Xtrema 100% Ceramic Cookware.) But finding a healthy baking pan is a little trickier.
In fact, because the market is flooded with so many non-stick (but toxic!) baking pans, in some ways it is easier to locate a healthy cookie recipe than it is to find a healthy pan to bake them in.
How to Select a Non-Toxic Baking Pan
Ok, here’s the deal: the absolute greenest baking pan would be a stoneware cookie sheet, and although some bakers insist these are the best for baking, to be honest I have had issues with stoneware when baking cookies (although I have to say I do LOVE my pizza stone.) Stoneware cookie sheets can be a bit pricey too, not to mention they can break.
The next best option for a non-toxic baking pan would be 100% stainless steel. However, a number of stainless steel baking pans have been dipped in an aluminum coating, which I am not too crazy about.
The other problem with stainless steel is that it really is not the best option for conducting heat uniformly and consequently your cookie recipes might not turn out the way you expect. Also, some manufacturers coat their aluminum cookie sheets with substances much worse than aluminum, including toxic non-stick chemicals, which is often done to improve the cooking performance of the stainless steel cookie sheet.
However, you can always cover your stainless steel cookie sheets with parchment paper (we love these pre-cut 12×16 parchment paper sheets that fit our Stainless Steel Cookie Sheet perfectly!), which will help prevent aluminum and other toxins from leaching onto your food.
A professional baker who is not as concerned about the healthfulness of his/ her cookies might tell you that the best bet for a cookie sheet is aluminum because it is such a great conductor of heat, but if you go with aluminum I would definitely cover it in parchment paper to prevent aluminum from leaching into your food.
What Baking Pan Do I Use?
I personally think that for the money, Norpro Stainless Steel Cookie Sheet is the best option. I always cover my stainless steel cookie sheet with parchment though because it keeps the cookies from sticking. Plus I think using parchment paper helps prevent burning and it most definitely helps with clean up! It comes in both a 12×16 cookie sheet size and a 12×14 cookie sheet size.
A Few Healthy Holiday Cookie Recipes to Bake in Your New Baking Pan!
Just in case you missed my healthy holiday cookie recipes earlier this week, here are my 3 favorite:
Pin this graphic for later!
Well it has been my experience that if you’re going to use stainless steel baking equipment, you MUST use parchment because everything WILL stick. But should I interpret your post to also mean that even if you are unable to purchase all new bakeware, (that would require a huge monetary investment in my case), you shouldn’t even use parchment on top of the bakeware you already own? If the food isn’t coming into contact with the surface so that the non-stick or aluminum is unable to “leach” into the food, wouldn’t the simple solution be to just buy a few rolls of parchment paper which would technically resolve the “leaching” issue?
You are absolutely right Dee, the parchment does prevent the sticking (which makes the clean up SO much easier, not to mention keeps whatever you are baking looking good) And you are right about the cost of replacing all of your cookware being pricey too =( I just very, very slowly upgraded mine, but I definitely didn’t do it all at once! Anyway, sorry to cause the confusion with the parchment, you can definitely cover your aluminum-coated pans with parchment, but it is my understanding that the toxic coatings on the non-stick pans can “leak” through to the parchment paper (but this is not the case with the aluminum) –I think it might have something to do with the fumes that are emitted from the toxic non-stick coatings. Hope this helps?
Xtrema by Ceramcor is made on mainland China. You have to ask them because it is not on their website. Check out polluted water in China.
Hi Marie, Oh this came up a few years ago and I spoke to the main guy at Ceramcor (Bob) about it—I honestly cannot remember what his response was but I remember it was a very good one and that it satisfied my concerns. I would definitely send Bob an email (I think it is just bob@cermacor.com ) and see what he has to say. And please let me know too! I will commit the response to memory this time 😉
Can you use this pan for roasting vegetables too? It appears their other pans are not 100% stainless or have a coating on them…
Yes Alisa! It’s great for roasting vegetables too. I often use parchment paper for roasting vegetables (just because it is easy clean up!)
Thank you!
Hello IVY,
Thanks for sharing this informative article. it answered most of my questions.
I’m planning to try baking for the first time next week. Are there any tips you can give me to help me out? I would love to avoid any unnecessary mistakes xD
Hi EL! It’s great to hear you are going to start baking =) My biggest tip would be to just read through the recipe thoroughly before you start. And my second biggest tip would be to measure everything out before you begin…that will make the whole thing less intimidating. Good luck!
I really have enjoyed your writing and tips. Thank you!
One thing that urks me a bit though. Young gals like you saying that you starting eating clean in 1998, when it was not the in thing to do. What????
I and many many people in my generation, started “eating clean”, nonprocessed home grown foods back in the 70’s. Personally, I went to north american college of natural sciences for a nutrition degree in 1980, birthed 2 kids at home, breastfeeding them
For 2 years each, eating organically, no sugar etc, etc. many people seem to think that they “discovered” and pioneered healthy eating in the late 90’s and even in the past 15 years. It urks me. There is actually “nothing new under the sun.” Just admit that there have been people Into whole, natural, non toxic clean eating forever!, maybe not “main-stream” but certainly followed by large groups of people.
Diet and health regime gurus that try to claim that they were ahead of the curve and pioneered or “started doing so “ before everyone else, invalid their message and good example by making such a claim.
My generation finds it hysterical..and annoying.
Hi Carolyn, I VERY much appreciate you taking the time to explain your feelings because I never actually looked at it that way. I guess I just lived in my own little world and honestly didn’t know a single person who was even interested in eating “whole food”, much less even knew the definition! In fact, when we launched our first book in 2005 the mainstream media had a hard time with us calling our diet an “anti-inflammatory whole foods diet” because they didn’t know what that meant. So, when I say clean eating wasn’t the “in” thing to do, it doesn’t mean that I don’t acknowledge that there have ALWAYS been people interested in healthy, wholesome food, what I mean is that it just was absolutely not mainstream. Even things like “whole” almond milk or nut cheese simply was not available back then. It’s definitely a completely different food world these days. I think you must agree?
From everything I’ve been reading when researching this topic, parchment paper also contains some of the same harmful chemicals (which are what makes it nonstick)
I’ve read a bit of the same… Silicone is still a chemical. In my research which led me to this great blog- thank you Ivy I can’t wait to try your recipes!- I read a suggestion of using coconut oil on stainless steal when you’re worried about sticking ie; cheese. Otherwise I think this whole non stick thing is really about the programming leading us to use materials that cause disease.
Thank you for taking the time to comment Sarah! I’m so glad you liked the article. And yes, coconut oil is great for the purpose of non stick 😉