Do any of you replace some of the flour with cornstarch in cookies? I've read

Yes. My favorite Scotch Shortbread

From Mary Orr, St. Andrews, Scotland

1 lb butter, softened (not oiled)
6 oz sugar
14 1/2 ozs flour
2 1/2 ozs rice flour or cornstarch

Mix sugar into butter, then sift in dry ingredients & mix. Spread in tray. I use a jelly roll pan. The dough doesn't end up covering quite the whole pan surface. I just quit when I get most of it to a thickness that looks about right. It is pretty sticky. I start with a spatula and then sprinkle sugar over top of dough, top with a sheet of plastic wrap then use my hands to finish spreading it out. Prick all over with a fork. Bake at 300 for 30 minutes, then reduce heat to 275 and cook another thirty minutes or until firm. Cut while hot-a pizza wheel works great. Put on wire rack to cool. I wait a few minutes for it to cool a bit before transferring. It is very sandy and fragile. I've been making this for years. One of my uncles who was in the service begs me to make this for him and says it is just like what he ate in Europe.

 
They both sound good and I'll print them out but I was going to make some

heart cut out sandwiches with jam in the middle. Kind of like Linzer cookies. I don't have almond flour and my driveway hasn't been plowed yet so I have to work with what I have.

 
It is the way to convert AP flour to pastry flour so maybe that is why. I think it is

2 TBS per cup of flour.

 
Powdered sugar typically has cornstarch in it to minimize clumping.

So if the recipe calls for powdered sugar, it's already there.

This is actually an issue for anyone with a corn allergy.

 
That's pretty much impossible in the Mohawk Valley in winter, but thanks

for the thought! finally finished shoveling and bringing up two fifty pound bags of snow melt

 
Marcy Goldman's in Cooks Illustrated: Original Holiday Butter Cookie Master Recipe

The Original Holiday Butter Cookie article - recipe, food science and more
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11 Additional Holiday Butter Cookie Dough Variations
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Colleen's Notes
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MASTER RECIPE FOR HOLIDAY BUTTER COOKIE DOUGH
Marcy Goldman, Cook's Illustrated, 1993
For good measure: Having ingredients just a bit cooler than room temperature assists proper blending and results in a dough that is ready to roll. If a dough does begin to get too soft to be workable, simply pop it in the refrigerator for about ten minutes and you're back in business. Chilling the dough prevents you from adding extra flour, which would firm up the dough but can make the final product tough.

Original Holiday Butter Cookie Master Recipe
Yields approximately 6 dozen single-layer cookies or 3 dozen sandwich cookies
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (unbleached recommended)
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 teaspoons baking powder
Tiny pinch salt
2 egg yolks
3 tablespoons light cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup white sugar
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or silicone paper.
2. Mix flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Mix yolks, cream, and vanilla together in a measuring cup.
3. Cream sugar with butter and shortening until lightened and pasty. Beat yolk mixture into creamed butter until just combined.
4. Add dry ingredients and beat until mixture begins to clump together (about 18 or 20 seconds on lowest speed of electric mixer).
5. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board and kneed gently to shape into a soft dough. (Can be wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated up to 3 days or frozen up to 6 months). Proceed with rolling, shaping, and baking instructions under selected cookie.

Classic Cut-Outs Makes about 6 dozen 2-inch cookies
Working with 1/4 of the dough at a time, roll to about 1/8-inch thick on a well-floured work surface. Use cookie cutter of your choice to cut out shapes. Using a spatula, transfer cut-outs to prepared baking sheet, placing them about 1 inch apart. Bake at 350 degrees until golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough. Transfer to a wire rack and cool to room temperature.

Goldman's DECORATIVE ICING
Coats about 2 dozen 2-inch cookies
1—2 tablespoons milk
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
Food coloring (optional)
2—3 drops flavored extracts (vanilla, peppermint, cherry, banana, almond, etc.), to taste (optional)
1. Stir minimum amount of milk into confectioners’ sugar with a small wire whisk or a fork to make a soft smooth icing. (Stir in optional food coloring and flavor extracts.) If mixture is too stiff, add milk in very tiny increments until correct consistency is reached.
2. Pipe icing from a pastry bag to outline cookies or make simple motifs, or simply drizzle on designs. If coating the cookie, use a small metal spatula to spread icing over entire top surface or dip cookie into icing, using the metal spatula to trim away excess. (If mixture hardens, remix with a bit of water, whisking well too make icing smooth.) Allow cookies to dry to a dull shine before storing.

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