The following tips, culled from a variety of cookbooks and resources, will help you make your cookies better than ever:

To keep cookies from spreading too much, use butter that's just soft enough to cream with sugar, but not so warm that it melts the moment it gets in the oven. To test the butter for softness, grab a stick by each end and bend the ends downward. The stick of butter should bend without cracking. Chilling dough also helps cookies keep their shape.

Cookies usually bake more evenly on unrimmed cookie sheets. Cookies require even heat to bake properly, so allow the oven to heat for 15 minutes before you put in the first batch.

Remove cookies from baking sheets as soon as they are rigid enough to transfer and cool on racks. This prevents them from continuing to cook on the residual heat of the baking pan.

If you like your gingerbread people soft, chewy, and pudgy, roll the dough ¼-inch thick and underbake it slightly so that upon cooling, the cookies remain soft.

If cookies frequently burn in your oven, it may be that the oven thermostat is off. An oven thermometer can verify that the oven is actually heating to the temperature selected. If the setting is accurate, try baking with one sheet stacked right on top of another to shield the cookies from excess heat. Or try baking with very heavy-gauge pans or ones with an air-cushion inset.

If you care about uniformity, bake all the cookies on the same kind of cookie sheet. Different sheets can cause surprisingly different amounts of spreading, browning and crisping.

Some cookies spread thin during baking, a trait loved by some and condemned by others so it pays to know how to control it. Chilling the dough before baking and using parchment paper reduces spread. Using ungreased cookie sheets encourage spread, as the heat is more direct.

Try to make all the cookies the same size and shape so they will finish baking at the same time.

For the most tender cookies, use as little flour as possible when rolling out the dough. Save all the dough trimmings and roll at one time (these cookies will be less tender). Sugar cookies will not get stiff or tough if you roll them in sugar instead of flour.

Bars and squares are softer and more cakelike. Bake bars and squares in greased pans that are at least 1½ inches deep.

Logs of cookie dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three days. For longer storage, put the logs in airtight, zip-top bags and freeze for up to three months. To thaw, refrigerate overnight. Unused dough may be frozen a second time.To keep your perfectly shaped logs of slice-and-bake cookie dough from flattening at the bottom while they chill, cut empty paper towel rolls in half lengthwise to make two cardboard troughs with rounded bottoms. Place a log in each half. After the logs have chilled for 15 to 20 minutes, turn them over once and chill until firm.To chill cookie dough quickly, divide it into smaller portions and shape it into disks.

Baking soda helps cookies have an open irregular crumb; adding baking powder along with the baking soda helps to create a finer crumb.Mix the flour with the other dry ingredients in a separate bowl before adding to recipe. It's an extra and fussy step but it will allow the baking soda, baking powder, salt, spices and/or cocoa powder to be distributed evenly throughout the batter.Have the eggs at room temperature. Cold eggs can cause melted chocolate to seize or cause softened butter to firm up unexpectedly creating tough cookies. To bring eggs to room temperature, set them out on the counter for 15 minutes (while the oven is heating, perhaps).Lightly oil the cup before measuring syrup, honey and other sticky ingredients and the ingredient will pour out without sticking.Butter can develop "off flavors" if improperly stored. Even in the refrigerator, it begins to get stale in just several weeks. However, wrapped airtight and frozen, butter will keep for up to a year.Swapping milk chocolate for semisweet may result in cookies that taste too sweet and lack chocolate flavor.Allow ingredients that have been chilled to warm to room temperature before mixing them to ensure the dough will be warm enough to combine properly and that the cookies will bake in the time specified.When the recipe calls for chocolate that is to be melted, be it white, milk, or dark, use bulk chocolate, not chips. Chips and morsels are formulated to keep their shape even when exposed to heat.To make chopping dried fruit easier, try coating the blade of a heavy chef's knife with nonstick cooking spray. Or, use kitchen shears to snip the fruit apart.After you chop the walnuts place them in a strainer and shake over the sink to remove any powdery residue.The smallest drop of moisture can cause melted chocolate to become lumpy. If this should occur stir in 1 tablespoon vegetable shortening for every 3 ounces chocolate. Do not use butter as it contains water.

Store soft cookies away from crisp cookies, or they will soften the crisp ones.To preserve each cookie's special flavor, it is best to store each variety of cookie in its own container.Separate layers of cookies with wax paper to keep the cookies crisp and to separate those that are sticky.Store meringue cookies in a loosely covered container at room temperature. They do not freeze well.For longer storage, freeze cookies. Freeze each type of cookie separately in a tightly covered container. Layer frosted or glazed cookies between sheets of wax paper after frosting is set or dry, or freeze these cookies unfrosted, then frost after thawing. Most cookies freeze well and keep for about six months.If crisp cookies become soft, heat them in a 300-degree oven for 3 to 5 minutes.SOURCES: "The All-American Cookie Book" by Nancy Baggett (Houghton); Mifflin, 2001); "A Baker's Field Guide to Chocolate Chip Cookies" by DeDe Wilson (Harvard Common Press, 2004); "Cookies! A Cookie Lover's Collection" by The Kitchens of Cy DeCosse Inc. (Tormont, 1994); Fine Cooking magazine's Holiday Baking issue; "Good Housekeeping Recipes Favorites: Cookies!" by the editors of Good Housekeeping magazine (Hearst, 2004); "Rose's Christmas Cookies" by Rose Levy Beranbaum (William Morrow, 1990); "The Toll House Heritage Cookbook" The Nestle Corp. (1984); "The Ultimate Chocolate Cookie Book" by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough (William Morrow, 2004); What's Cooking America Web site.