Ingredients

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into chunks, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• Sanding sugar, for sprinkling

Instructions

Beat the butter, both sugars and the salt on medium in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment for about 3 minutes, scraping the bowl as needed. The mixture should be smooth but not fluffy.

Reduce the speed to low and, one by one, beat in the yolks, followed by the vanilla. Turn off the mixer, add the flour all at once and pulse the mixer until the risk of flying flour has passed. With the machine on low, mix just until the flour disappears into the dough. Give the dough a couple of turns with a sturdy flexible spatula.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and divide it in half. Shape each half into a log about 9″ long. Place sanding sugar on a sheet of parchment and roll the log in sugar, coating it all around. Wrap the logs in the parchment and freeze for at least 3 hours and up to 2 months (if freezing for longer than 3 hours, wrap again in plastic wrap).

To bake, preheat oven to 350°F and slice the logs about 1/3-inch thick. Place the rounds about 2″ apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet and sprinkle tops of each cookie with more sanding sugar. Bake one sheet at a time on the center rack for 17-20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. Let cool for 5 minutes on the sheet and then transfer to a rack to cool to room temperature.

Cookies will keep for a week stored in an airtight container at room temperature, or freeze in a ziplock bag for up to one month.