Substitute pure almond extract for the vanilla, and substitute 1/2 cup almond meal for 1/2 cup of the cornstarch.Called Biscoitos de Maizena in Portuguese, these cookies take the name of Brazil’s leading brand of cornstarch. They are very quick to make, and they almost melt in your mouth.
Yield: 3 dozen
Active time: 15 minutes
Start to finish: 30 minutes
21/2 cups cornstarch
11/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, thinly sliced
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon baking mats.
2. Combine cornstarch, sugar, and salt in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Blend for 5 seconds. Add butter to the work bowl, and process, using on-and-off pulsing, until mixture resembles coarse meal.
3. Combine egg, egg yolk, and vanilla in a small cup, and whisk well. Drizzle liquid into the work bowl, and pulse about 10 times, or until stiff dough forms. If dough is dry and doesn’t come together, add milk by 1-teaspoon amounts, until dough forms a ball.
4. Form 1-tablespoon amounts of dough into balls, and transfer balls to the prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches of space between balls. Flatten balls with the tines of a fork to make a crosshatch pattern.
5. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes, or until lightly brown. Cool cookies on the baking sheets for 2 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Variation
Substitute pure almond extract for the vanilla, and substitute 1/2 cup almond meal for 1/2 cup of the cornstarch.
Brown & Polson in Paisley, Scotland, have been selling cornstarch, which they call corn flour, since 1840, and a man named Orlando Jones patented it in the U.S. a year later. During the “Emergency,” as the Irish called World War II, a special act was passed setting the maximum price for Brown & Polson Corn flour in Ireland at 5 pence for a 1/4-pound package.