Argo Corn Starch, with Kingsford Corn Starch Introduce Holiday Shortbread Cookie Recipes with Butter and Corn Starch

08/11/06 Argo Corn Starch, with Kingsford's Corn Starch, have declared this baking season "The Year of the Cookie," and introduce two must-try new recipes: the Ginger Shortbread Cookie and Cherry Almond Shortbread Cookie.

Here's a promise: the new Ginger Shortbread Cookie will be one of the best gingerbread cookies you've ever tasted. It has the full, complex, seasonal-spicy flavor you expect in a gingerbread cookie: including ground ginger, with hints of pumpkin pie spice and dried orange peel. But where the Ginger Shortbread Cookie pulls ahead of other gingerbread cookies is in the rich, buttery taste and chewable texture. The butter adds deep richness. And, while this is a firm cookie, it is moister than the conventional gingerbread cookie. The shortbread ingredients in this recipe prevent it from being dry and overly firm.

For anyone who loves the combination of cherries and almonds, the new Cherry Almond Shortbread Cookie will be a treat to remember. Chopped dried cherries populate a rich, buttery shortbread cookie; one or two dried cherry pieces are likely in every bite. Almond extract flavors the cookie dough, and the shaped cookies are topped with slivered almonds and a layer of sugar.

While classic shortbread cookies have a high butter content, they can also be quite hard. Some Americans find the texture a bit too hard, and that's where corn starch helps. Corn starch softens shortbread cookies just enough to make them appealing to those who have opted to other forms of cookies besides shortbread.