The way the cookie crinkles

My sisters and the little bubwits (i.e. nieces and nephews) are really Cookie Monsters, and have been after me for weeks to make one of their favorites--chocolate crinkles. So I did, following a standard recipe I got off the Web somewhere (Betty Crocker I think).

The cookies turned out delicious--I used good-quality chocolate, mixed in all the right ingredients in the correct quantities in the correct order, and even refrigerated the dough overnight (the recommended maximum).

But I'm not satisfied, not moi. I want my choco crinkles to be perrrrfect! What's wrong with the cookies above:

a) the shape is not as rounded and compact as I would like it to be
b) the "crinkle"isn't dramatic enough; one big zigzag down the center would have been much better
c) the cookies were quite fragile--they needed to be lifted with care.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to fix these, please let me know!

P.S. Totally off-topic, did Proust really have madeleines with his tea? One Slate columnist begs to differ.