How do you like your cookies? Light and delicate? Soft and chewy? Crisp and crunchy? Crumbly and sandy? Cakey and tender?The new “Martha Stewart’s Cookies: The Very Best Treats to Bake and Share” (Clarkson Potter, $24.95) is organized by cookie texture. There’s no reason to settle for chunky and nutty turtle brownies when you prefer a cakey and tender truffle brownie.In typical Martha fashion, each recipe is accompanied by full-color photographs, and what’s even more fun are the ideas for creative packaging.Also included are chapters on tips and techniques for baking and decorating; pantry ingredients to stock, and must-have tools for making and shaping cookies.Before you begin a round of cookie baking, here are some tools that will make the task easier.Spoonula: This tool is helpful when scraping the sides of bowls while mixing cookie dough.Sifter/sieve: A small colander, made of fine-mesh wire and with a long handle, is used to combine dry ingredients and to aerate flour. This tool also can serve as a sifter; use it to dust confectioners’ sugar or cocoa powder on top of cookies after they are baked.Graduated measuring spoons and cups: Be sure to measure ingredients carefully. Pour a liquid ingredient, such as vanilla extract, to the brim of the spoon, and level dry ingredients, such as salt, with a straight edge, such as a small offset spatula. Metal cups are preferred for dry and semisolid ingredients (peanut butter, jam, shortening). Scoop the ingredient into the cup and then level it with a straight edge. Use the right size cup (never estimate portions). A liquid measure is essential for accuracy.Small flexible spatula: This heatproof tool is particularly useful to scrape small amounts of ingredients from measuring cups.Large flat flexible spatula: Use the heatproof flat spatula to spread thick batter, such as that used for brownies, evenly in a baking pan. Like the spoonula, a large spatula can be used to scrape down the side of a mixing bowl.Rasp grater: This grater, which resembles a small ruler, is made of metal and has small, sharp blades. It is used to grate citrus zests and dried spices, such as whole nutmeg.Scale: A small electronic scale is used to weigh nuts and dried fruit.

COCONUT MACAROONSYield: About 18

3/4 cup sugar2 large egg whites2 1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut1 teaspoon pure vanilla extractPinch of salt

Procedure:1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In large bowl, combine sugar, egg whites, coconut, vanilla and salt. Using hands, mix well, completely combining ingredients.

3. Dampen hands with cold water. Use 1 1/2 tablespoons to form mounds. Place on baking sheet, spacing about 1 inch apart.

4. Bake until golden brown, 16-17 minutes, rotating halfway through. Let cool on wire rack. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for as long as 3 days.

Chocolate chunk macaroons:

• Follow recipe for coconut macaroons, adding 1/2 cup coarsely chopped semisweet chocolate to ingredients. Use 1 1/2 tablespoons of mixture to form loose haystacks; place on prepared baking sheet, spacing about 1 inch apart. Bake until golden brown, 15-20 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through.

Chocolate macaroons:

• Place 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces, in heatproof bowl or top of double boiler set over pan of simmering water. Stir until chocolate has melted. Set aside to cool. Follow instructions for coconut macaroons, increasing coconut to 2 2/3 cups and combining all ingredients with cooled chocolate and 1/4 cup sifted unsweetened cocoa powder. The baking time should be about the same; you will know when the cookies are done when they are just firm to the touch but soft in the middle.

Fire fighters and residents sift through the rubble of a destroyed house in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq on Tuesday, April 29, 2008. The death toll of Tuesday’s clashes rose to more than 30. Photo by Associated Press

Karim Kadim