INGREDIENTS: We Need to Keep Sifting . . .

If a recipe calls for butter softened to room temperature, should the other ingredients be the same temperature as well?

NICK M.: Yes. Adding cold ingredients to the butter will make it firm up again and possibly make the dough or batter separate.

Why do I have to sift powdered cocoa and confectioners' sugar?

NICK M.: To avoid lumps. You don't have to use a sifter; try a strainer.

Why do some cookies puff up and then fall flat?

NICK M.: Some drop cookies that contain baking powder and/or baking soda may have been overmixed; too much air in the dough will make the cookies rise too much, then fall. For cookie doughs with those ingredients, mix just until they are smooth for best results.

Are "just whites" the same as meringue powder?

RAEANNE H.: No. If you want to use dried egg whites, you must reconstitute them and use them with a royal icing recipe that calls for egg whites.

I've got a cookie recipe that calls for "freshly grated orange peel." Can I peel some today (since I have the oranges now) and then freeze it until I need it, or is that a big no-no?

MARCY G.: Citrus zest freezes really well. Zest it in long strips, toss with a touch of sugar and freeze. Then mince up just before using in the recipe. The longer strips keep better (and will take in fewer odors from freezer), and when you mince before baking, the release of the citrus oils is better.

I don't have a rolling pin and haven't made any sugar, gingerbread or other rolled-dough cookies. Can I use something else?

MARCY G.: A wine bottle is good for most cookies. To roll the dough for a gingerbread house, unscrew a wooden broom handle (clean it well) and use that. It is especially good for thin doughs (but be gentle).

Or you could press rich sugar cookie dough into a 9-by-13-inch baking pan -- about 1/4 inch thick. Brush with egg wash or milk, sprinkle on sugar and bake. When it is three-quarters of the way finished baking, slice into bars or use a cookie cutter to press out circles and return to the oven to finish baking/crisping up. You can snack on those trimmings!

How do you get the maximal flavor from citrus zest in an orange-, lemon- or lime-flavored cookie, such as a citrus shortbread or spritz or butter cookie?

MARCY G.: First, mince the zest. Then mix it into the sugar called for in the recipe. That will release the citrus oils into the sugar, whose gritty texture will do a good job of dispersing the citrus flavor and oils in the dough. Proceed with the rest of the recipe as written.

I wonder why my cookies crack after they bake.

ROSE B.: Cookies that are not meant to crack on the top may do so after baking or just toward the end of baking if they are overbaked. Because cookies are so small, they continue to bake on the sheet even after removal from the oven. Try baking them in less time.

If that doesn't help, use superfine sugar, or grind granulated sugar to a finer consistency in the food processor. The finer the sugar, the smoother the cookie.

All of my baked cookies go flat. I have had cookies that look great fresh out of the oven and then go flat in minutes, and I have had cookies go flat in the oven. I have an oven thermometer, I have tried hand mixing and have tried margarine vs. butter, to no avail.

ROSE B.: Use a lower-protein flour, such as bleached all-purpose flour. Unbleached flour has higher protein, which ties up the liquid, keeping it from turning to steam and puffing up the cookie.

Also, after shaping the cookies, refrigerate them for at least 30 minutes, or freeze them for 10 minutes if you have freezer space. That way, they can set in the hot oven before they start to spread. If that doesn't help enough, try increasing the oven heat by 25 degrees.

My cookies get too dark on the bottom before the tops get brown. What can I do?

RAEANNE H.: Double up your baking sheets to slow down the bottom baking, and remember to adjust the baking time (it may take longer).

MARCY G.: Use parchment paper and doubled-up baking sheets. That really solves that problem so nicely (and no need to buy any quirky baking sheets or weird bakeware).

Some directions call for placing a baking sheet under a pan of squares or brownies that I know won't spill over. Why?

MARCY G.: To promote even baking, even through the dense center. It also makes it easier to retrieve the pan from the oven.

When baking two sheets of cookies on two racks at a time, is there a rule of thumb about rotating them top to bottom and front to back?

MARCY G.: Around midway through baking, for domestic (home) ovens, it's a good idea to rotate. Most ovens do not have even-flow heat. I suppose that in convection-oven baking, it's not necessary to rotate, but it couldn't hurt. Thick squares such as brownies generally don't need to be rotated. Blonder ones, whiter doughs could use a rotation.

Is there a big difference between baking on the middle and upper vs. middle and lower oven racks?

MARCY G.: Yes. It is unbelievable what a difference levels make (and temperature and also doubled-up baking sheets). For example: high temperature, middle rack? You can get amazingly high muffins with great tops. Lower rack, medium heat? Muffins that are just okay.

What doesn't work well is using both racks at once. Cookies on the bottom level don't brown as well as the ones on the top. And upper-level cookies just bake too slowly; it can turn good baking into bad ceramics. So you should rotate them.

It seems like everyone has recipes for crisp sugar cookies. But I like mine soft. So, do you have a good soft sugar cookie recipe, preferably with lemon zest in the dough?

MARCY G.: The trick is to just add 1/4 cup sour cream or 3 tablespoons milk or cream to your sugar cookie dough. That makes it soft and more caky -- not quite crisp cookie and not a cupcake. Add 1 teaspoon lemon zest per 2 cups flour in any recipe for that lemony hit.

Also, recipes called New York Black and White Cookies are soft sugar cookies, or you can pop a white cupcake batter . . . on a baking sheet.

Since we moved to Baltimore from New England, my pizelle cookies come out soft instead of crisp. How do I adjust for that?

MARCY G.: First, change the eggs. Use smaller ones (even a touch bigger eggs will make softer pizelle), or better yet, for one of the eggs, substitute two egg whites instead.

And use part peanut oil instead of melted butter (unless you are already using all oil). It is very high-temperature and will help in crisping the cookies more.

DECORATING: Finessing Details Makes a Big Difference

What's the best way to adjust royal icing consistencies and colors?

RAEANNE H.: To make icing thicker, sift a small amount of confectioners' sugar over the bowl of icing; mix and repeat to get to a thicker consistency for outline work.

To make icing thinner, add a little bit of water at a time. (Icing thickens as it is stirred to add color, so add the color first, then the water.) To color icing, use a toothpick with a small amount of gel paste, or a drop at a time of liquid color; repeat to get the desired color.

Colored icing should sit, covered, for 10 minutes to develop its color, which will intensify. If you add too much color and your icing is too dark, add more white icing, not water.

How do you neatly add dragees and sprinkles to decorated cookies when you want them in a particular place?

RAEANNE H.: Use long, angled tweezers; special ones are available at baking and craft stores.

RESTING/ROLLING: Warm, Comforting Advice on a Chilling Subject

How can I slice cookies off dough logs and keep them all even and thin?

ROSE B.: Chill the dough until it is very firm before you slice it. You can even freeze it until it is firm enough to cut even slices. I like to use a serrated knife for this.

How long does a dough need to be refrigerated before I use it?

NICK M.: Always allow a dough to chill until firm. If it is not sufficiently chilled, the dough will be soft and pasty, and it will stick to everything.

Check by pressing with a fingertip. If the dough is still soft in the center, the firmer dough on the outside will break into lumps while you are rolling. For soft doughs that have been chilled, cut off a small piece at a time and leave the rest in the refrigerator.

When rolling small pieces of a soft, chilled dough, incorporate the scraps right into the next piece of dough rather than reroll all of them at the end, when they might be too soft to roll easily.

Does time in the fridge make all cookies softer and chewier?

ROSE B.: Yes! Chill the shaped dough on the sheets, and it will hold its shape better when placed in the hot oven. It is therefore thicker, and it doesn't spread as much and become as crisp.

It's hard to get my roll-out sugar cookies thin enough, and they tend to lose their nice edges. What can I do?

RAEANNE H.: Set aside a flat baking sheet that will fit in your refrigerator and/or freezer. Roll out dough between two sheets of plastic wrap (preferably 18 inches wide), using as guides two 1/8 -inch-thick wooden slats (available at crafts stores) placed on each side of the dough that conform to the width of the baking sheet. Use a wide dowel-type rolling pin (with no handles) and slide it over the wooden slats; this assures that the dough will be rolled into an even 1/8 -inch thickness.

After the dough has been cut, use the plastic wrap to slide it onto baking sheets that will fit in your freezer. Let the sheets of dough freeze before cutting out your cookies. The frozen shaped, unbaked cookies can go straight from the freezer to the oven.

STORAGE: Individual Wrapping and Airtight Containers Are the Keys

What's the best way to keep cookies fresh?

MARCY G.: I always cool cookies well, then wrap each one or a few (if they are small) in wax paper and store them in tins or sealed Tupperware. The wax-paper treatment really ensures no transfers of flavor, less breakage and less humidity.

Can I freeze decorated cookies?

MARCY G.: Not really. A day before or the morning of giving or presenting, have your decorating stuff ready, and you can finish the cookies off with melted chocolate, icing, etc. . . . but they taste and look more just-done when the decorating is the final touch.

Do squares and bars freeze well? How about biscotti?

MARCY G.: Nothing beats sticky, gooey, layered squares for freezing. They are rich, have lots of goo, chocolate, jam, nut-rich doughs, and they tend to freeze well. Being rich, they also often taste better cold, and they cut better semi-frozen.

You also can freeze bars in their baking pans (lined with aluminum foil, with overlap). Unmold them and cut them fresh for giving a few hours ahead.

I like to freeze biscotti in logs, then cut/rebake that second time a day before or the day of. But you can make a ton of different holiday biscotti and cut/rebake after freezing. It's better to do that than to freeze baked biscotti.

They also cool fast, so you can be wrapping while some are cooling or having the second bake. Nothing is as assembly-line, but elegant, as biscotti.

Most cookies freeze well after they are baked, but my preference is to make the dough and bake fresh, when I can.

How can I make the most cookies in the shortest amount of time?

MARCY G.: If you can (i.e., have time), freeze doughs and bake off a few batches a day. It also helps to bake one variety one day, freeze and then move on -- provided you have some base doughs to begin with.