Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and powdered sugar with an electric mixer for 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy.

Then, add egg, vanilla extract, almond extract, and salt; beat until smooth, about another minute.

Gradually mix in the gluten-free flour blend, half a cup at a time, mixing until no more streaks of flour remain.

Scoop the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper and pat into a circle about 1 inch thick. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least an hour to firm up for rolling.

Lightly dust your work surface and rolling pin with powdered sugar. Roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness and cut with cookie cutters.

Place cookies on the prepared baking sheet, leaving 2 inches in between each cookie. If you really want the cookies to hold their shape when baking, you can freeze them for 10-15 minutes or refrigerate for another 30 minutes.

Bake cookies at 375°F (190°C) for 8-10 minutes until they are lightly browned on the edges and the center of the cookie is matte and no longer shiny. The cookies will not be browned completely.

Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Cool completely before frosting with royal icing as directed below.

In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, combine the powdered sugar, meringue powder, 5 tablespoons of water, and vanilla extract.

Mix for 1-2 minutes on low speed, scraping down the sides to make sure everything has been incorporated.

Turn the speed to medium-high, and mix an additional 3-4 minutes until the ingredients are well blended, the volume has increased, and the icing is very white and thick. This is what I consider the base consistency.

I usually add about 1 teaspoon more of water for a good outline icing (I use a 15-second rule, meaning if you drizzle the icing with a spoon or spatula over the bowl of icing it will melt back into the icing in 15 seconds. Depending on how thin your icing needs to be you can add anywhere from 1-4 more tablespoons of water, as needed. Go slowly as it's easier to thin out your icing than it is to make it thicker again.

Add gel food colorings a little at a time as needed to color the icing. Keep a wet paper towel over any icing that you are not currently working with to prevent a skin from forming over the top.

Snowflake Outlining: Outline the snowflake cookies with 15-second light blue icing for a base shape.

Filling: Fill in the center of the snowflake with the same blue icing and let it dry completely.

Adding Details: Use 25-second white icing to draw straight lines across the snowflake, keeping the bag elevated for precision.

Final Touches: Add ‘V’ shapes and dots with the same white icing to enhance the snowflake design. Allow complete drying before serving.