A couple notes. I used Straus Creamery lightly salted butter here. I like a good amount of salty to counter sweet in cookies like these. And basically, butter cookies like these are all about good butter. That said, you can use good unsalted butter and, in a sense, season the dough to your tastes before baking. If I were using unsalted butter, I might start with 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and adjust from there. I also tend to bake these a bit longer than typical. I like the bottoms solidly golden, and tops lightly/mid golden. 1 cup / 4.5 oz / 130 g unbleached all-purpose flour Scant 1 cup / 4 oz / 115g whole wheat flour 1/2 pound (2 sticks) salted butter, softened 1/2 cup / 3.5 oz / 100 g sugar 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1/3 cup / 1 oz / 30 g lightly toasted sliced almonds 1/2 cup / 2.5 oz / currants large grain sugar, for sprinkling