Your typical cookie batter contains the basic ingredients of butter, sugar, eggs, flour, flavorings and garnishings. Some recipes may opt for margerine, a different type of sugar, a different type of flour, one or two flavorings and garnishings, By garnishings, I mean nuts, chocolates, dried fruits, and so on. It is best to limit your garnishings into one or two flavors so your product could be appreciated better. A potpourri of ingredients in a cookie can be daunting to the taste buds.

Butter - Use unsalted butter at all times. Butter is fat that helps flavor and bind the batter. Add kosher salt or iodized salt for balance.

Sugar - Granulated sugar or brown sugar or a combination of this as called for in the recipe is at your discretion. What is important is make sure your sugar is dissolved. If the sugar is lumpy, put in the mixer to break the lumps first before adding the butter and the rest of the ingredients. A perfect finished cookie does not echo sugar granules.

Eggs - Whatever type of eggs you prefer will work. Egg is a binder as well as flavor and add body to your batter.

Flour - Most cookie recipes call for All Purpose Flour that has less gluten than bread flour which makes bread more heavy and chewy. Pastry flour is too light and flaky. A combination of flours may work as called for in the recipe. Cookies has to have a combination of crunchiness, chewiness and moist.

Flavorings - Vanilla extract a classical and traditional favorite could be replaced or combined with other fruit extracts. Extracts are potent and concentrated and are measured by the teaspoons. Some of the extracts in the market are imitation or has more alcohol content. Read and select your items carefully.

Garnishings - There are dozens to choose from to create cookies of varieties. Use shelled chopped nuts, dried chopped fruits, seeds, chocolate pieces and so on. The plethora of selection is endless. It is your creative enthusiasm that will be measured.

Always remember to check your ingredients for freshness and contamination. If your nuts are rancid, you would have wasted your entire cookie batch using bad nuts. Be wary of cracked bits of shells on nuts or stems on dried fruits before adding to your batter. You do not want someone breaking their tooth over these.

NOTE TO THE NUTS: Oops...you know what I am referring to! To prolong the life of the nuts or to keep them nuts from going rancid, make sure that the container is dry and sealed with a lid or zipped tightly. If you are not using these nuts in the next two weeks, refrigerate or freeze. Thaw frozen nuts before adding to baking ingredients.