I stopped letting my butter soften before baking and a large amount of my issues went away. I now put the butter into my mixer straight from the fridge and let the mixer smash it into a more perfect temperature, then continue with the recipe. I use cold eggs etc. as well. I know that I am breaking every rule out there but the mixer causes the temp of the ingredients to rise as they are being processed. I have a very warm kitchen all year. Too warm/soft of a dough before baking will cause spreading no matter what. I tend to refrigerate most of my doughs as well now, preferably overnight, and keep it cold while in the process of doing the baking. The cookies turn out better all the way around.

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