For chocolate chip cookies, instead of creaming the butter with the sugar, try melting the butter to add to the sugar. Creaming butter with sugar creates air cells in the batter. These air cells expand during baking, leading to cookies that rise. Using melted butter creates a batter that spreads and provides a chewy texture. To keep the cookie from becoming tough, add a little extra fat in the form of an extra egg yolk.
The most effective tool an evil being can use against us is our own capacity to judge others more harshly than we judge ourselves. Fear is the tool of a tyrant, wielded to suppress independent thought.