There are a great deal of recipes that use an 8- by 8-inch baking pan, like our brownies, blondies, and lemon bars. However do you know recipes developed for a 9- by 13-inch pan may also be halved and baked on this smaller dish with minimal tweaking? And for those who’re like my husband, who’s an enormous fan of crispy, caramelized corners, baking a 9- by 13-inch recipe in two 8- by 8-inch pans means double the sides (and pleasure).

To seek out the perfect sq. baking pans, I examined 12 of them—making blondies and cake and evaluating their sturdiness. Shock, shock: Not all of them baked correctly and others weren’t really eight-inch squares, resulting in inaccurate cook dinner instances.

The Winners, at a Look

The Nordic Ware 8- by 8-inch pan is made from heavy gauge aluminum and was sturdy, with a rolled edge that was straightforward to carry and transfer out and in of the oven. Muffins baked evenly, with gentle brown edges and the pan’s easy, rounded corners that had been straightforward to wash.

Sharper corners make for aesthetically pleasing baked items. If that’s necessary to you, that is the pan to get. Constructed from heavy gauge aluminized metal that baked evenly and persistently, the Williams Sonoma pan’s desserts and blondies had crisp 90-degree corners. Each sq. and slice was picture-perfect.

Should you desire a nonstick pan, I discovered the USA pan to be the most suitable choice. Not like different nonstick fashions I examined, which had darker coatings that led to overbrowning, the USA pan is gentle in shade. This yielded constant, even outcomes just like that of uncoated pans.

Usually, I don’t advocate glass and ceramic baking pans, as the fabric heats in a different way than steel, which is what most baking recipes are developed for. However the tinted glass of the Pyrex compensated for this, and I used to be pleasantly stunned to seek out that desserts and blondies baked up practically in addition to in my favourite steel pans.

The Assessments

• Yellow Cake Check: I baked half a field of yellow cake combine in every pan (frivolously greasing them first with a three-second burst of cooking spray) to see how evenly the cake rose and baked.
• Sturdiness Check: I took a butter knife and scratched every pan 10 to 12 instances, as if I had been slicing squares of brownies, to see how sturdy it was.
• Blondies Check (Winners Solely): I tailored this brown butter blondies recipe, including in chocolate and butterscotch chips, to see how a dense dough would bake within the successful pans. After baking, I lower the blondies with a butter knife instantly within the pan, in search of additional scratching.
• Cleanup and Usability Assessments: After each take a look at, I washed every pan by hand. All through testing, I evaluated how straightforward the pans had been to carry, transfer, and unmold baked items from.

What We Realized

Steel Baking Pans Have been Usually Higher

As a recipe developer and cookbook creator, I’ve all the time really helpful light-colored steel for baking pans, particularly ones which might be used for desserts, brownies, blondies, and bread. It is because darker pans warmth up quicker, resulting in overbrowning on the perimeters and bottoms. Additionally, most professionally developed recipes are designed utilizing uncoated, light-colored steel pans, with the baking instances and outcomes optimized for this materials. 

Of the steel pans, those produced from heavy gauge steel—like my favorites by Nordic Ware, Williams Sonoma, and USA Pan—baked essentially the most evenly. Muffins rose solely barely within the center and blondies had been golden brown from edge to middle. Pans just like the Wilton Efficiency and the Fats Daddio had been made from thinner steel that baked faster, leading to overdone, darkish edges and bottoms.

Go for a Lighter Coloured Pan (Except It’s Glass)

One of many many points with nonstick-coated pans is the colour of the coating. The darker shade of nonstick coating can take up warmth quicker, yielding uneven bakes. This was evident within the Good Prepare dinner, Wilton Good, and All-Clad baking pans. Their desserts had been overly brown and had low sides (as these set shortly) and dramatically risen facilities (as the remainder of the cake caught up in temperature).

Nonetheless, when it got here to glass, a darker shade was really welcome. Not like the clear Anchor Hocking pan, the Pyrex was a smoky grey, which absorbed warmth quicker. Glass is a refractory materials, which heats up slower than steel however retains warmth longer, even when faraway from the oven. This is the reason the Anchor Hocking pan underbaked cake, however the Pyrex carried out nearly in addition to the steel choices.

Ceramic Baking Pans Struggled With Standardized Sizing 

A lot of the steel pans I examined had been near eight inches in dimension. However, inexplicably, the 2 ceramic pans I examined had been off, with the Nice Jones measuring 7.5 inches and the Made In pan 10.5 inches.

Smaller and bigger pans resulted in thicker and thinner baked items and ran the chance of overbaking or underbaking with out recipe time changes.

Corners Have been Good, However More durable to Clear

I personally love the polished look of baked items with sharp corners. Nonetheless, pans with squared-off corners (like those from Williams Sonoma and USA Pan) are tougher to wash. The small gaps of their corners entice bits of meals, and also you’ll often have to seize a toothpick or wood skewer to dig crumbs out. Should you’re trying to keep away from this, there are pans produced from one molded piece of steel and with rounded corners, like my favourite from Nordic Ware.

The Standards: What to Search for in a Baking Pan

If choosing a steel baking pan, select one which’s produced from a heavy gauge materials and light-weight in shade, which is able to assist distribute warmth evenly. For glass, go for a baking pan that’s darker-hued, which is able to assist compensate for the fabric taking longer to warmth up. Lastly, for those who prioritize ease of cleansing, decide a pan with out sharp edges. However for those who desire the aesthetic of sharper, 90-degree corners—nice! Simply know they’ll require extra attentive cleanup.

Our Favourite 8- by 8-Inch Baking Pans

What we preferred: Nordic Ware’s baking pan is molded from one piece of aluminum, with a rolled edge that has a stainless-steel rod inside it, including stability and stopping warping. Whereas a small pan might not warp like a bigger half-sheet pan, the rolled edge can be simpler to seize and transfer out and in of the oven. 

The pan’s heavy gauge steel evenly distributed warmth. Cake rose gently from the sides to the middle, with even browning throughout the highest. Blondies baked up golden brown, with none overcooked or underbaked areas. I discovered a little bit of cooking spray was sufficient to forestall baked items from sticking and the pan’s sloped, crevice-free corners made for straightforward cleanup. 

What we didn’t like: The aluminum pan did scratch throughout my sturdiness take a look at. That mentioned, the scratches didn’t influence efficiency, because the pan isn’t nonstick.

Key Specs

• Materials: Aluminum
• Dimensions: 8 x 8 x 2.2 inches
• Care directions: Hand-wash; not dishwasher-safe
• Deal with dimension: None
• Most oven temperature: 500°F 

What we preferred: The Williams Sonoma pan was heavy-duty, evenly distributed warmth, and had sharp corners, making each cake slice and blondie sq. look picture-perfect. The pan’s rolled rim, just like the Nordic Ware’s, was straightforward to seize. In my exams, desserts baked up even and blondies had been golden brown. 

What we didn’t like: The sharp corners of the pan trapped crumbs. Just like the Nordic Ware, it additionally confirmed some minor scratches, however they didn’t influence efficiency.

Key Specs

• Materials: Aluminized metal
• Dimensions: 8 x 8 x 2.25 inches
• Care directions: Hand-wash; not dishwasher-safe
• Deal with dimension: None
• Most oven temperature: 450°F 

What we preferred: Should you desire a nonstick pan, the USA Pan was the perfect one I examined. Its proprietary nonstick, silicone coating known as Americoat and is evident. This implies the pan performs like one which’s uncoated, with out the new spots or uneven baking that occurred with dark-colored nonstick fashions. It additionally featured rolled edges that had been good to grip and baked cake and blondies superbly.

What we didn’t like: Just like the Williams Sonoma pan, the USA Pan’s sharp corners create stunning baked items however are tougher to wash.

Key Specs

• Materials: Aluminized metal with silicone nonstick coating
• Dimensions: 8 x 8 x 2.25 inches
• Care directions: Hand-wash; not dishwasher-safe
• Deal with dimension: None
• Most oven temperature: 450°F 

What we preferred: I sometimes don’t advocate glass baking dishes. Nonetheless, this tinted Pyrex carried out surprisingly effectively. The grey glass heated quicker and held onto warmth, so desserts baked up pretty evenly—extra so than the dark-colored nonstick choices I examined. Whereas the Pyrex’s blondies weren’t fairly nearly as good as my favourite steel pans (with the sides extra brown than the middle), they had been nonetheless acceptable, particularly for people preferring crispy edges and corners. 

What we didn’t like: Glass is extra fragile than steel, takes longer to warmth up, and retains warmth readily. This results in extra uneven baking.

Key Specs

• Materials: Tempered glass
• Dimensions: 8.25 x 8.25 x 2.25 inches
• Care directions: Dishwasher-safe
• Deal with dimension: 0.75 x 5 inches
• Most oven temperature: 425°F 

The Competitors

FAQs

How do you clear baking pans?

Most baking pans ought to be washed by hand with a delicate sponge and dish detergent. Some pans could be cleaned within the dishwasher, similar to ones produced from glass. You need to all the time test the producer’s directions to see in case your pan is dishwasher-safe.

Are silicone baking pans protected?

Although no silicone baking pans had been examined for this text, they’re permitted by the FDA and regarded food-safe. Usually, silicone baking pans are rated as much as 425°F.  Nonetheless, remember that although silicone pans are handy attributable to their versatile nature, permitting for straightforward launch of baked items, the fabric doesn’t get sizzling and gained’t brown as effectively.

What baking pans do professionals use?

Most baking professionals use a commercial-grade heavy gauge steel pan that’s sturdy and uncoated. This enables them to make use of the pan over and over, with out having to fret in regards to the coating scratching or flaking off. Thicker, heavy gauge steel pans not solely bake higher by distributing warmth evenly however are extra sturdy and may face up to the fixed use of a industrial atmosphere.

Why We’re the Consultants

• Irvin Lin is a cookbook creator, recipe developer, meals author, photographer, and ceramicist. He wrote the cookbook Marbled, Swirled, and Layered, which was picked by the New York Instances as among the best baking cookbooks of 2016. Irvin additionally runs a weblog known as Eat the Love, the place he’s developed, photographed, and written recipes since 2010. 
• He’s product examined and reviewed lots of of kitchen gadgets together with stand mixers and digital thermometers.
• For this overview, Irvin examined 12 8- by 8-inch baking pans. He made field cake combine, scratched them with a knife to emulate put on over time, and baked blondies to see how they fared with a dense dough.