Cream butter and sugar together in the bowl of a stand mixer, using a paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using an hand mixer.

Add eggs, one at a time to the butter mixture. Beat to combine.

Add 2 tablespoons of milk, along with vanilla and mix until just combined.

Sift together flour and baking powder into a separate bowl.

With the mixer runing, gradually add flour mixture to the wet mixture until you have added 3 1/2 cups. Check consistency of dough. You should have a soft dough, but it should not be sticky.

Dust the counter with flour and knead dough for a few minutes. Let rest for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 F and line baking sheet with parchment or a silicone baking mat.

Pour milk into a small vessel and place sesame seeds and nonpareils each in a small bowl.

Use a small (2 tsp) cookie scoop to scoop out 36 portions of dough onto the counter, using up all the dough. Roll each dough ball to make an even sphere.

Take a piece of dough at a time and dip dough in milk, then roll in the sesame seeds. The dough that you plan to dip in nonpareils does not need the milk to stick (and the milk will make the color run).

Press each coated ball until the dough forms a rectangle roughly half an inch high, and place the little logs on your prepared baking sheets. Repeat with all 36 balls.

The dough will not rise or spread much, so you can space fairly tightly on your cookie sheet.

Bake 15-18 minutes, one pan at a time on the top oven rack until golden brown. Remove to a cooling rack.