Writing cookbooks that can be easily consumed by varying users is a daunting task. How can you write robust cookbooks that cover all configuration scenarios without a level of complexity that would make users want to run and hide? Could it be that easy to consume and robust cookbooks are actually those that lack recipes and attributes altogether? This talk will compare and contrast monolithic cookbook design with that of composable cookbooks. The talk will show the pitfalls of a recipe / attribute driven monolithic cookbook through the lens of Chef?s own Tomcat cookbook. We?ll walk through the redesign and rewrite of the Tomcat cookbook to show how composable design and Chef 12.5+ Custom Resources can create robust and reusable cookbooks.