Jelly Roll Pan vs. Cookie Sheet: How to Use the Baking Pans

A jelly roll pan is a flat, medium-sized baking pan meant for baking the sponge cake part of a jelly roll, Swiss roll, or bûche de Noël dessert. A jelly roll consists of a piece of thin cake rolled into a cylinder with fillings like icing or jelly lining the inside. The standard size of a jelly roll pan is fifteen by ten inches, with a one-inch high rim to contain the cake batter as it bakes.

Manufacturers make jelly roll pans from non-stick stainless steel, heavy-gauge aluminized steel, carbon steel, or silicone.

Jelly roll pans have a variety of uses as cookware or bakeware: Its raised edges allow you to contain marinades and oils when baking ingredients. The pan is likely to be half the size of a full sheet pan, making it a convenient replacement for other rimmed baking sheets. Here are some recipes you can bake using jelly roll pans.

1. 1. Brownies: A jelly roll pan is excellent for baking brownies because the higher-rimmed edges contain the thick brownie batter.
2. 2. Cookies: Use jelly roll pans to make smaller batches of cookies. Simply line the pan with a sheet of parchment paper before baking your cookies for an easy clean-up.
3. 3. Dessert bars: The high rims of a jelly roll pan make this tool perfect for making various dessert bars, from streusel jam bars to lemon bars to hermit cookies.
4. 4. Jelly roll: Making a jelly roll is the most obvious use for a jelly roll pan. The depth of the pan yields a perfectly sized cake for you to roll up without incident.
5. 5. Roasted vegetables: Jelly roll pans are perfect for roasting up a small batch of veggies. Fill a jelly roll pan with chopped vegetables and cover them with olive oil.

A cookie sheet is a large flat surface used to bake cookies. Most cookie sheets are eleven by sixteen inches. Some cookie sheets may have rimmed edges, though they will typically not be as deep as jelly roll pans. A true cookie sheet only has one rolled edge for easy handling, while the rest of the sides are open, allowing bakers to transfer cookies to a cooling rack with ease.

Cookie sheets are uniquely suited to baking cookies. The open sides of this piece of bakeware encourage even air circulation around each cookie. The rimless construction also allows you to easily scoop cookies off the sheet with a spatula, while nonstick cookie sheets enable you to tip your baked goods onto a cooling rack. Cookie sheets are often insulated to prevent the bottoms of the cookies from burning.

Alternatively, you can use a cookie sheet for baking bread and single-serving treats like empanadas or hand pies.

Cookie sheets and jelly pans are not entirely interchangeable. However, a cookie sheet can work as a substitute for a jelly roll pan if the former has rims, and each rimmed edge is at least a half-inch high.

If you don’t use the proper pan to bake your jelly roll cake, it will be thinner than desired. To counter this, make your cream layer thinner to compensate for the difference.

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