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When sussing out a new recipe for potential perfectness, take a look at the ratio of liquids (like eggs and milk) to sugar to fat. More or less of any of these can turn out a different kind of cookie.

Here's a quick look at how this works:

• Crispy cookies generally have less liquid and more sugar and fat. This recipe for Classic Crunchy Peanut Butter Cookies from King Arthur Flour is a perfect example.

• Soft cookies will tend to be higher in liquid and lower in sugar and fat, like our recipe for Molasses Cookies.

• Chewy cookies are high in liquid and sugar, but lower in fat. They also often have more eggs than other recipes. If this is your style, try our recipe for Brandied Prune and Chocolate Chunk Cookies!

How you mix and bake your cookies can also make a difference. Creaming the fat and sugar with a mixer and baking your cookies at a slightly lower temperature will make them spread out more in the oven. At the other end of the spectrum, mixing by hand will give you chewier, denser cookies because less air is incorporated into the dough and the butter is distributed less evenly.

Cookies are so quick and easy to make that it's fun to play around with old recipes to see what happens. And even if it doesn't turn out to be your perfect cookie, there's sure to be someone nearby who thinks it's just right.

More Cookie Recipes from The Kitchn
• Fudge and Walnut Oatmeal Cookies
• Ultra-Chewy Lemon Coconut Cookies
• Earl Grey Tea Cookies
• Bittersweet Baking Finalist: Brownie Cookies

More Cookie Tips
• Survey: Very Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Good Product: Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa
• Tips for Making Perfectly Round Cookies

This is by Emma, who is up for one of our new writer positions. Welcome Emma!