2 cups sugar (plus more for rolling dough before baking and dusting cookies after baking)
3 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt
Preheat Oven to 300°
Cream Butter and Sugar until smooth. I use a stand mixer but grandma used a spoon. Add egg yolks one at a time incorporating each one before adding the next. Add vanilla and cream mixture again.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cream of tarter and salt. Add dry ingredients to butter/sugar/egg mixture.
This thick dough will be easy to shape into about 10” log which I find easier to divide for consistent portioning.
I use a knife and cut the log in half, then each half into quarters, keep dividing equally until you have 8 “discs”. Cut each of these discs, like you would a pie, into 8 equal portions. Roll each portion into a ball and roll each ball in sugar. I use a small plate with a layer of sugar that helps with moving them around.
Place the balls on a baking sheet, they spread out a little while baking, I leave about 3” between the dough balls. Bake at 300° for 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and use a spatula turner to remove the cookies carefully onto a sheet of parchment or waxed paper to cool. Spoon a little sugar onto each hot cookie, dusting the excess off once they have cooled completely. Makes 64 cookies.
