I Couldn't Bake Decent Cookies to Save My Life!

[RealLifeMama]

I am a good baker. At least, I consider myself to be a good baker.
When I was in high school and college, I used to make tollhouse cookies at least once a week and they were great! Everything a chocolate chip cookie should be. I got marriage proposals from those cookies.
Then, I got married to a DH that dislike cookies. ( :confused ) and had DD and had to give up dairy. Then, I became all healthy and only made healthy vegan cookies.
Healthy vegan cookies stay in the shape that they are when they go into the oven.
Fast forward a couple years, in between babies, I started making regular cookies again. Tollhouse Chocolate chip always being my very favorite.
I then made these round things that resemble cookies, and sort of tasted like cookies, but they were mostly flat, thin, unevenly brown, chewy circles with some chocolate chips sticking up out of them.
I tried using all butter, part butter/part shortening, etc. I have tried recipes that claim to make the ultimate chocolate chip cookie, thick, chewy, etc. I have tried the Marshall Fields chocolate chip cookie, the Mrs. Field's copycat cookie, other no name cookies, and my beloved tollhouse cookie.
All these flat brown CD's with chocolate chips sticking out.
I would eat other people's chocolate chip cookies. I'd say "Oh, man, this is the best chocolate chip cookie! What is your recipe?" They'd say 'Tollhouse". I have told them mine are always flat and thin, and they say "Oh, the secret is really good organic butter and cold dough. "
Since more than one person with perfect cookies had told me this, I figure this is true, so I will try it the next opportunity I have, which was tonight!

So, here we are tonight, with DD wanting to bring a baked good to her teachers tomorrow as a thank you. She says 'Can you make cookies?"
I said "what kind?" and we decided chocolate chip.
I said 'Oh, sure!"
It is 11 pm, but whatever.
DH said "Um, arent your cookies always kind of flat and thin?"
I said "Oh, but now I know the secret is to use cold dough made with good organic butter! They will be great!"

I excitedly mixed the dough, sure that I would get back my cookie mojo. It was so yummy! It had been such a long time since I had made this recipe. I thought to myself "Oh, these are totally going to be worth all my Weight Watcher's flex points! " I put the first pan of cookies in the oven, and peeked at them about 3/4 of the way through. I was so excited to see that they had. in fact, held their places pretty well and they had not spread out all over my sheet. I take them out of the oven at exactly 10 minutes. They were still really doughy in the center, with brown edges. They still looked sort of fluffy.
But as soon as I got them out of the oven, they flattened and now I am staring at thin, flat circles with some chocolate chips sticking out of them.

DH came down and said 'They look kind of thin and flat."

It is too late to redeem these, but there will be a next time.
Help?

[Quiteria]

Maybe there is something wrong with your oven. All those recipes sound lovely.

I can't make anything.

[Singingmom]

My Tollhouse cookies are always flat too. Last time I had this discussion with someone she said she makes the recipe from the Ghirardelli bag and they're always perfect. I'm trying that next time I make real cookies. I do think adding maybe 2 T. more of flour to the Tollhouse cookies helped but it's been a while.

[aleigh]

I make the Tollhouse ones too- they are NOT flat & thin. I use Crisco sticks- not good for you, but makes the cookies better...

I chop off about an inch of the Crisco stick & put in about 2T of room-temp. butter. I also use 1 cup of whole wheat flour & 1 1/4 cups of white flour. (Note- this doesn't effect the fluffiness of the cookies- but I still like it!)

When I make the cookies with 100% butter they are flat & thin...