A few interesting facts: caramelization of sugar only occurs if you are baking the cookies between 356-390 degrees F. This leads to the delicious sweet taste and smell that you can't get from the raw dough. The Maillard reaction leads to more complexity of flavors and browning. Melted butter leads to a flat, chewy cookie where cold butter leads to a fluffy, cakey cookie.
I've got some experimenting to do.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/12/03/248347009/cookie-baking-chemistry-how-to-engineer-your-perfect-sweet-treat