To Make the Cookies:

Cup of Yum
1. In the bowl of a stand-up mixer, add the butter, sugar and salt. Beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg, egg yolk, vanilla extract and beat once more until combined. In two batches, add the flour, being sure each addition is combined before adding the next one. Divide the dough in half, transfer it to two sheets of plastic wrap (it’ll be quite soft!), shape into a disc and transfer to the fridge. Allow to chill for about 1 hour. Ideally it should be at least 3 hours.

To Bake the Cookies:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the first disc of dough from the fridge. If it’s super cold, it may need some time to come closer to room temperature, probably 10 minutes. Place the dough between two sheets of parchment and roll out the cookie dough to a 1/8-inch thickness. I find it easiest to stamp out the cookies when the cookie dough is very cold, so transfer the parchment sheet unit to a baking sheet and place in the freezer to chill for 5 minutes. Stamp out the cookies with a cookie cutter of your choice, being sure that half of the cookies (the cookie tops) have something stamped out of the center so we get that linzer effect.
2. Transfer the cookies to the baking sheet, spacing them about 1-inch apart (these spread slightly). Re-roll the scraps to get a few more cookies. Repeat with the second disc of dough.
3. Bake the cookies, one baking sheet at a time, for about 8 to 10 minutes, until lightly golden brown around the edges. Cool on the baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack. Repeat with the remaining cookies.

To Make the Salted Caramel:

1. In a medium saucepan, set over medium-low heat, add the sugar and water. Cook on medium-low heat until the sugar has dissolved into the water completely. Then, turn the heat to high and allow to cook for about 5 full minutes, until the cooked sugar goes from clear to light golden brown. At this point, lower the heat slightly and keep cooking until it turns a golden brown.
2. Add the butter and whisk until it melts. The mixture will foam up a bit so don’t be alarmed. Next, pour in the heavy cream; again, it’ll foam up and might seize but continue to stir it over low heat until it seems very smooth. If it’s a super light brown, feel free to cook it for about a minute over low heat until it turns a bit darker in color. Mix in the vanilla. Remove it from the heat to cool slightly. It will thicken as it cools slightly!
3. In order the decorate the cookies, you want the caramel at a medium temperature, not too warm and not too cold. If it gets a bit cold, feel free to transfer it to a small bowl and stick it in the microwave for 10 seconds, just until it’s pourable.

To Decorate the Cookies:

1. Transfer the cookies tops (the ones with the center hole removed) to a cooling rack. Dust with a liberal amount of powdered sugar. Flip the cookie bottoms (the ones without the center hole removed) over and smother a scant teaspoon of salted caramel onto the cookie. Top with a teeny pinch of sea salt. Repeat with the remaining cookies. Place the tops on the bottoms and sandwich the two together. Cookies will last 3 days when kept in an airtight container.