I really like how the "Your First Loaf" article explains a lot about baking bread, I've been able to understand the recipe and make changes to it because of the detail it goes into. However, all cookie recipes I can find so far online seem to be just a list of ingredients followed by "mix everything together". Is there an article or recipe for cookies somewhere that goes into as much detail and starts off as simple as the Your First Loaf article? (Bonus points for similar articles for cakes and pastries)
The cookie science articles at seriouseats.com might be a good place to start.
I've been looking around myself and found a really really basic recipe to start experimenting from.
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/346608/basic-cookie-recipe
I might write up a guide myself using the information I get from experimenting and from the cookie science articles linked above.