OPTIONALCOATING: Stir the white sugar and white sparkling sugar together in a small bowl (optional but gives the cookie a nice crunchy exterior and extra flavor!).
WETINGREDIENTS: Place the melted butter in a large bowl and allow it to cool to room temperature before adding sugars. If butter is hot it will melt the sugars and cause greasy cookies. Add in the white and brown sugar and stir until smooth. Add in 1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk (reserve the white for a separate recipe or discard), vanilla extract, and almond extract. Stir until just combined and smooth.
DRYINGREDIENTS: In another bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and baking soda.
COMBINE: Add all of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until JUST combined. Do not overmix the dough.
CHILL: Roll tall balls of dough (see the photos in the post). If you have a kitchen scale, the balls of dough should be about 1.2 ounces (each ball should be full 2 tablespoons of dough). Roll the balls of dough generously into the white sugar/white sparkling sugar mixture. Cover and refrigerate the balls of dough for 1 hour.
BAKE: Preheat the oven to 325degreesF. Place dough balls on a parchment or Silpat-lined sheet pan, spread far apart (I only bake 6-8 cookies at a time, they spread a lot) and bake for 9-14 minutes. Watch carefully, being sure to not overbake. Slightly underbaked sugar cookies are the BEST! Remove and let stand on cookie sheet for 2 minutes before removing to a cooling rack with a spatula.
FROSTING: Prepare the frosting while the cookies bake. In a large bowl, beat together the room-temperature butter and cream cheese until completely smooth. Add in the vanilla and salt. Mix to combine. Add in the powdered sugar and then beat until the frosting is smooth (it will seem like you need more liquid, but just keep beating; it will come together!)
FROSTCOOKIES: Frost each completely cooled cookie and add with your favorite sprinkles. Store any leftover cookies in an airtight container in the fridge. Cookies are best enjoyed within 2-3 days.
Video
Notes
Note 1: If you press a measuring cup into a bag of flour and scoop, you will pack in way too much flour, resulting in the wrong texture of cookie. To accurately measure the flour, spoon the flour into the measuring cup until its overfilled. Then use the back of a table knife to level the measuring cup at the top. (Video visual here).