Optional Coating: Stir the granulated sugar and white sparkling sugar together in a small bowl (optional but gives the cookie a nice crunchy exterior and extra flavor!).

Place 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 granulated and brown sugar and stir until smooth. Add in 1 egg, 1 egg yolk, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Stir until just combined and smooth.

In another bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and baking soda.

Add all the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overmix the dough.

Roll tall balls of dough (see the photos in the post). If you have a kitchen scale, the dough balls should be about 1.2 ounces (or 2 full tablespoons each). Roll dough balls generously in the granulated/white sparkling sugar mixture. Cover and refrigerate the dough balls for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Place dough balls on a sheet pan lined with parchment or a silicone baking mat, spread far apart (I only bake 6–8 cookies at a time; they spread a lot) and bake 9–14 minutes. Watch carefully, being sure to not overbake. Slightly underbaked sugar cookies are the best! Remove and let stand on sheet pan for 2 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

Frosting: Prepare the frosting while the cookies bake. In a large bowl, beat together room-temperature butter and cream cheese until completely smooth. Add vanilla and salt. Mix to combine. Add powdered sugar and beat until frosting is smooth. It will seem like you need more liquid, but just keep beating; it will come together!

Frost each completely cooled cookie and add with your favorite sprinkles.