"The Cuisinart is the most powerful mixer that we looked at," says Sharon Franke, Kitchen Appliances Director, Good Housekeeping Institute. "It really excelled at tough mixtures. In the past, you’d have to push up the button and hope that the mixer could handle the task, but this one knows how much power to kick in and it does it automatically."

If you hate looking for attachments, Good Housekeeping suggests the Hamilton Beach Performance Plus. A plastic case snaps onto the body so you can organize your pieces in one place. And the heel can be used to store the cord.

And the Hamilton Beach model wasn't the only favorite. "We love the Sunbeam Mixmaster Heritage 2547 because it comes with dough hooks for making homemade bread, and it does a great job," says Franke. "It makes a loaf that’s the equivalent of what you’d get from a full size powerful stand mixer.

"So if you only use a hand mixer occasionally, but you want to make homemade bread, this is the one to choose. The other thing we really loved about this mixer is it comes with a little storage case, so you can store the attachments and not have them causing clutter in your kitchen drawers."

When you’re done mixing and ready to make cookies, Good Housekeeping suggests the Wilton Cookie Pro “Cookie Press.” You fill the tube with dough, cap a cute design and squeeze the trigger.

A final note: Good Housekeeping says you’ll get the best results when using a hand mixer if your butter or margarine are at room temperature and not super cold. And if you need to add chips or nuts to a thick batter, stir them in by hand at the end of the recipe. To learn more, check out the February issue of Good Housekeeping or visit www.goodhousekeeping.com.