Even the most experienced home baker can use some help around the holidays, so celebrity chef Alex Guarnaschelli's cookie expertise just might help you bake the perfect batch of treats. During an appearance on GMA, Guarnaschelli told viewers to avoid this pitfall when mixing cookie dough.

When mixing up a batch of chocolate candy cookies, Guarnaschelli adds the flour last, saying "We don't want to overwork flour." She further explains that adding flour first and manipulating it too much makes the dough tough, ruining the structure of delicate cookies as well as cakes.

Guarnaschelli's advice makes sense, since mixing and kneading dough forms gluten that makes the final baked good very chewy, which is ideal for bread, but not for a chocolate chip cookie. She recommends using a mixer to combine all the ingredients except flour, then gently folding the flour in at the end.