Sugar cookies

This recipe is adapted from the Cracked Sugar Cookies I recipe on Allrecipes.com.

• 1-1/4 cups white sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/2 t cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Lightly grease 2 cookie sheets.

Cream together sugar and butter. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla.

Add flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Stir.

Form dough into walnut size balls and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Don't flatten. Bake 10 to 11 minutes, until tops are cracked and just turning color.

NOTES -- 2009-06-26

• I added a couple pinches of salt, as I have seen up to 1/4 teaspoon of salt in other similar sugar cookie recipes.
• I let the butter and egg yolks come to room temperature, as is standard for other cookie recipes. I'm not sure if these ingredients, straight from the refrigerator, would have worked as well, or better.
• I used yolks from duck eggs, which were slightly larger than large chicken eggs. The yolks also were easily about 1/3 to 1/2 as large. It remains to see how this extra yolkiness will affect the cookies.
• I reduced the sugar to 1 cup because I used about 1/3 cup of minced candied grapefruit peel.
• I am letting the dough chill overnight in the refrigerator because it was rather soft when mixed. I also want the flavor of the peel to perfume the dough a little before baking.
• I doubt that greasing a cookie sheet is necessary, especially if you line the sheet with parchment paper.