Plain old sugar cookies have a tendency to be pushed aside in favor of fancier desserts, but we think their delicate flavor and chewy texture is incredibly comforting. This recipe is pretty simple—don't forget to add salt to balance out the sweetness. Our favorite way to finish the cookies is with vanilla sugar, which you can make by splitting a vanilla bean and mixing the seeds with a few ounces of granulated sugar.is pretty phenomenal, but it requires you to rest the dough overnight.
Malted milk powder and barley malt syrup give these cookies a malty, butterscotch-tinged flavor. The malted milk powder also makes the dough thick but tender, letting it stand up to lots of mix-ins. We went with white chocolate and pecans, but feel free to experiment—milk chocolate and walnuts or dark chocolate and hazelnuts would be delicious, too.Store-bought hazelnut butter costs a lot and often has a lackluster flavor, so we grind our own from toasted hazelnuts.