Cream and softened butter in a large bowl, scraping down the sides as needed.

Add the sugar and blend until light and fluffy.

Add the eggs and vanilla extract to the butter and sugar mixture (one at a time) and blend well after each egg addition.

Zest two oranges and blend the fresh zest into the butter and sugar mixture.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, ground cinnamon, and ground cardamom.

Gradually blend the dry ingredients (by thirds) into the wet ingredients, blending slightly after each addition, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Add the currants to the batter and blend until just combined.

Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a flattened round disc.

Wrap each disc with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 1 hour (or overnight).

When thoroughly chilled, roll the dough discs out on a lightly floured surface to a uniformed ⅛" thickness.

Cut the round biscuits from the dough and place the cutout biscuits onto parchment-lined baking sheets. *Note - the dough can be rerolled several times to yield as many cookies as possible. Not using a lot of flour to roll out the dough is key to tender cookies that are easy to reroll.

Sprinkle the reserved sugar generously onto each cookie, pressing the sugar lightly onto the surface of each cookie.

Bake for 12-15 minutes in a preheated oven (rotating the baking sheets once during baking) or until the cookies are ever so slightly golden on top and bottom.

Cool completely on a wire rack.

Yield = approximately 50 cookies using a 2½" round cutter.