It all starts out so innocently. I happily stock up on flour and sugar and butter and eggs. I plan my annual cookie list. I prioritize. I have to chill the chocolate crinkle dough, I muse, so I'll make that first, then bake the peanut butter cookies while the chocolate dough is in the fridge...

Last year, I made a dozen different cookies. Double batches of each. More than 1,000 cookies by the time it was all over. (If you ate one cookie per second, it would take you nearly 17 minutes to eat all those cookies. Then again, you might explode around cookie 500.)

I won't lie to you. By the time my cookie-baking marathon is complete, I'm a wee bit weary of walnuts. Yet I can't stop myself. I give cookies as gifts, and the making and the giving of them has become one of my holiday traditions. I bake cookies for family, for friends, for friends of friends. Some of the people who receive my trays of cellophane-wrapped and be-ribboned cookies don't even know my name. I am the Lone Ranger of baked goods, cookie gun at my side.

It takes stamina to turn out tray after tray of tasty little treats. It also takes a bit of preparation, and the best possible tools. So if you're thinking of going into holiday cookie production, be sure to give yourself every advantage. Read the recipes through before you get started. Check, and double check, to make sure you have all the ingredients on hand. Follow the recipe as it's written. Above all, measure accurately.

Here's a list of essential tools and tips to make your holiday baking a breeze. I wouldn't dream of beginning to sift, beat or stir without them. Happy baking!

Measuring spoons
The key to good baking is measuring accurately, so good measuring spoons are a must. You know that. But do you have more than one set of spoons? If you're in for a baking marathon, you'll want to have at least two sets, one for "wet" ingredients (extracts, liqueurs, food colorings) and one for dry (baking soda, baking powder, powdered spices). If your children like to help you in the kitchen, buy measuring spoons with round, deep bowls. They make better scoops for dry ingredients, and because the bowls are deep, liquids won't slosh out of them as easily.

All-purpose measuring cup
This cylindrical sleeve (with metric and U.S. measurements) fits over a plastic plunger. Push the plunger down to the desired level, fill with ingredients, level off, and then push the ingredients into your mixing bowl. Works great for packed brown sugar, shortening, peanut butter, honey or anything that's a bother to scoop out of a regular measuring cup.

Cookie presses and scoops
If you make spritz cookies, you already own a cookie press. (You can't make spritz without one.) Your choices are manual presses or handy electric "cookie guns." You'll have to sacrifice a few cookies until you get the feel of a cookie "gun," but once you do, you can press out a tray full of cookies in seconds.

If you're more the "drop-and-bake" type (chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin), invest in a cookie scoop or two. They come in various sizes (depending on what the recipe calls for, or how big you like your cookies) and are essentially ice-cream scoops. The bigger ones also work well for measuring batter into muffin cups.

SilPats
These silicone baking-sheet liners eliminate the need for greasing baking sheets. Cookies slide right off them, they clean up easily, and they eliminate the need for cleaning baking sheets.

Food-safe cellophane
Not all cellophane is created equal. If you're going to wrap food gifts (plates of cookies, for example) in cellophane, make sure it's food-safe. It will say so on the package. Find it at bakery-supply stores or the cake-decorating section of a craft store. The cellophane you find in the wrapping-paper aisle of your local drugstore probably isn't safe for food.

Pure vanilla extract
Sure, it's more expensive than imitation vanilla, but it makes all the difference in the flavor of your baked goods. A recommended little splurge.