Southern Living Readers Swear by This Nonstick Spray

Courtney West/Southern Living

Is there anything worse than spending hours baking, following the recipe exactly, only for the baked good to get stuck to the pan? You've tried butter and flour, shortening and flour, or parchment paper, but the key to perfect baked goods is hiding in the grocery store aisle. Baker's Joy is a nonstick cooking spray for all types of baking pans and it ensures your next cake, brownie, or banana bread comes out cleanly.

What Is Baker's Joy?

Baker's Joy is an oil-based baking spray that contains flour. It was created in 1982 by B&G Foods, and unlike other nonstick sprays like Pam, this spray was developed specifically for baking. The flour in the spray provides grip for the cake batter so it rises evenly. The spray cuts down the messy two-step process of greasing and flouring a baking pan into one easy step. Forget smearing butter onto your pans, this takes half the time.

The aerosol can helps you grease even the hard to reach cracks and crevices of intricately designed baking pans so that baked goods release cleanly with the full design intact. Because Baker's Joy is a spray, it applies just a thin, even layer of nonstick coating to your pan, unlike butter, which coats much thicker and as a result can quickly over brown baked items with excess grease.

Parchment paper is another good way to keep things from sticking, but it can be a hassle to cut the paper to the right size and some pans, like Bundts, can't be lined. Baker's Joy is perfect for notoriously tricky Bundt pans because in both the classic and more elaborate designs it can easily grease all the contours.

Photographer: Antonis Achilleos, Prop Stylist:Christine Keely Food Stylist: Chelsea Zimmer

Get the Recipe: Banana Bundt Cake

Importantly, the spray doesn't leave a coating or change the taste of what you are baking. It does contain both soybean oil and flour, so it's not suitable for people with allergies to soy or gluten. It is both vegetarian and vegan, however.

How Do I Use It?

Baker's Joy is designed to be used with batters, so only use this product for baking, not other cooking applications as the flour in the spray can burn.

To apply, first shake the can well, this is really important because it helps evenly distribute the flour so you don't get clumps. Then spray the bottom and sides of your pan from about 6 inches away. Make sure to get it in all the little cracks and in the case of bundts, all around that center tube or chimney.

Where Do I Find Baker's Joy?

Baker's Joy can be found alongside other nonstick sprays in most supermarkets or in the baking aisle. It can also be ordered online from a variety of retailers and at some kitchenware stores.