Preheat your oven to 180°C (160°C fan) and have several ungreased baking trays ready. Do not line them with parchment paper for now.

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the room temperature butter and caster sugar together on medium-high speed for 3-4 minutes. You're looking for the mixture to become very light, pale, and fluffy. This step incorporates air which is crucial for a light cookie. For a full guide on this technique, BBC Good Food has a great explanation on creaming butter and sugar.

Add the room temperature egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Beat again on medium speed until everything is well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice to ensure it's all incorporated.

In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together the plain flour and salt.

With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three or four additions. Mix only until the flour is just combined. Over-mixing will develop the gluten and result in tough cookies.

The dough will be quite soft at this point. Scrape it out onto a piece of cling film, form it into a rough log shape, and wrap it tightly. Place it in the refrigerator to chill for exactly 15 minutes. What works best for me is setting a timer; any longer and it becomes too firm to press.

Once chilled, load the dough into your cookie press fitted with your desired disc.

Hold the press perpendicular to your cool, ungreased baking tray and press the trigger to release a cookie. Lift the press straight up. Repeat, spacing the cookies about 3-4 cm apart. If you wish, add sprinkles or other decorations now, before baking.

Bake one tray at a time for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges are just beginning to turn a very light golden brown. The centres should still be pale.

Let the cookies cool on the baking tray for 2-3 minutes before carefully transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. They will firm up as they cool.