Refrigerate bar cookies briefly after cooling to make the slicing easier.

Cookies can be frozen up to 6 months in the freezer if wrapped in aluminum foil or in a zipper lock plastic bag

To prevent cookies from darkening too much on the bottom, use shiny aluminum cookie sheets. Or double the pans, stacking the pan with the cookies on it on top of another cookies sheet. this slows down the process and results in more even baking. If you must use a dark baking sheet, reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees

You really don’t need to grease the cookie sheet if following a recipe that’s high in butter. But if you feel it will prevent the cookies from sticking, go ahead and grease it lightly with solid shortening or vegetable oil spray. If you’re reusing a sheet during baking, scrape crumbs from it between baking, but don’t regrease

Cool the sheets off before putting new cookies on them. Cookie dough spreads on hot surfaces.

If you like chewy cookies, keep them in the oven a few minutes less than the recipe suggests, or start checking the cookies for doneness about 2 minutes  before the end of the recommended baking time

Store soft cookies in a tightly covered container so they don’t dry out

Store crisp cookies in a loosely covered container

Wrapping cookies for packing? Wrap cookies in pairs, flat sides together or in small stacks, in aluminum foil or layer cookies in cans using crumpled wax paper to fill the air space

Want to keep drop cookies all the same shape? Use a spoon to measure the dough and place it on cooled baking sheets sot he cookies don’t spread. Or use a small ice cream scoop to scoop out the cookie dough and it’s all measured for you

What’s the best way to remove a cookie from the baking sheet? Don’t let it cool longer than 1 minute on the sheet, then run a metal spatula underneath and transfer it to a rack to cool completely.