Strategies for Marathon Baking

Baking holiday cookies goes so much more smoothly with the right planning. A baker's dozen tips on how to set up for a marathon session:

· Choose your recipes well in advance, but don't get too ambitious. Make a list, then eliminate a third of the recipes. Better to bake fewer kinds of fabulous cookies than a multitude of mediocre ones.

· Particularly if you're using recipes from multiple sources, photocopy them first to avoid piling books, magazines and newspapers onto crowded counters.

· Take an inventory of your ingredients. (I can't tell you how many times I've opened a cupboard and seen ginger or baking powder sitting on the shelf, only to discover later that the container was almost empty.) Look inside every ingredient container. Sniff spices to make sure they're fresh.

· Inventory your equipment, too. Make sure you have the correct pans, especially for bar cookies, which will bake up too thick or thin if you change the pan size. Check that you have cutters and other specialty equipment required. Pull out a measuring tape (useful for cutting bar cookies to size). Inspect your parchment paper or nonstick foil to make sure you have enough. And don't forget storage containers.

· Overestimate your need for staples such as flour, sugar, butter and eggs. You might be so thrilled with the way a recipe turns out that you decide to make another batch.

· Clear out the refrigerator and freezer to make room to chill doughs and freeze baked cookies.

· Enlist the help of a friend; you'll be twice as productive. (Decide beforehand how you'll split the finished cookies, though.)

· If recipes require ingredients such as butter or cream cheese to be softened, it's safe to take them out of the refrigerator late the night before. Eggs, however, should stay in the fridge until an hour or two before using.

· Get an early start. Baking in the pre-dawn hours means you won't be distracted by the phone.

· Take care of yourself. Start with a good breakfast, and plan a simple lunch in advance. (That can be as easy as making a sandwich and wrapping it up.) You'll be happy you did when you get hungry and don't need to stop to decide what to eat -- or worse, start picking at the nuts and chocolate and wind up with an upset stomach. And wear comfortable shoes that give you good support, especially if you're not used to being on your feet for hours at a time.

· Measure out all the ingredients before starting a recipe, then double-check them. Nothing is worse than putting a pan of cookies into the oven and realizing that you never added the baking powder or one of the spices.

· Prepare your pans in advance. When pans need to be buttered, use soft, not melted, butter, which coats more thickly, assuring a good release. Just put a stick of butter into a small pan or bowl with a brush, and place it near the stove.

· Make sure you have a place for cooling baked cookies. Unless you have a really large kitchen, cover your dining table with a heatproof pad and set out some racks. Or bring out extra folding tables.

Cookbook author and former pastry chef Nick Malgieri directs the baking program at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York.