In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or mixing bowl), cream the butter, sugar, and salt on low to medium-low speed until combined and slightly lightened. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure there are no under-mixed bits.

Decorate how you would like with buttercream or royal icing.

Add the egg, vanilla, and almond extract and mix until fully combined and emulsified. 

Add the flour and cornstarch all at once and mix on low speed until the mixture starts to form a dough. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure there are no dry bits of flour. 

Drop the dough onto lightly floured parchment paper. Gently form the dough with your hand into a smooth disc before lightly flouring the top of the dough. Place a second piece of parchment paper over the top of the dough and roll it to 1/4″ with a guided rolling pin. (Roll to 1/6″-1/8″ for a crisp, thin cookie and roll to 5/16″-3/8″ for a very thick cookie.) 

Refrigerate the sheet of dough for two hours or overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400 F.

Cut shapes from the chilled dough with lightly floured cookie cutters, placing the cut cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet. Chill the cookies in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes or in the freezer for 5 minutes before baking. Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes, or until the tops are no longer shiny. The size and thickness of the cookies will determine how long they bake, so pay attention to the surface and the bottoms of the cookies. The surface should be no longer shiny, and the bottoms should be slightly golden brown.

Cool the cookies on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating. Moving them prematurely can result in broken cookies.