Baking and Cooking with Cornstarch... Cookbook Reviews

Spending my high school and college years in Texas, I learned to like using cornstarch for gravies and sauces…something I hadn’t when we lived in Minnesota where flour was the thickening choice. 

BON APPÉTIT says that cornstarch is perfect for sauces, especially stir fry sauces, for breading before frying, in batters for deep frying and in pie fillings as a binder.  We agree. 
For those who need gluten-free recipes, cornstarch is a good thickener; some of the older recipes in these booklets are just that, gluten-free as well as tasty.

You can check Argo’s website for recipes, but it’s not a secure site.  Most of the cornstarch company cook booklets are still in copyright, but these links below let you view some online.  You may have a redirect page, but click on the link there and it will take you to the cookbook.  To view it, click on view item beneath the photo of the book.  You can download it to keep from there.

 They are courtesy of the Sliker Small Cookbook Collection at Michigan State University Library.

I like these older cookbooks because the ingredients are usually readily available.

Award Winning Chinese Recipes  1982

From Argo and Kingsford cornstarch   (View)

An Old Time Favorite For Modern Housewives: Argo Corn Starch

This 1940 book has recipes like coconut whipped cream, Custard blanc mange and lemon meringue pie.   (View)

Argo Cornstarch for Delicious Desserts    (View)

This is an older cook booklet but it includes recommending substitutes such as corn starch for an egg,  corn starch in gravies instead of flour, and a portion of corn starch instead of wheat flour in biscuits, pie crusts and muffins. There are recipes for pudding, "Corn Gems" (made with corn meal, Argo, Karo, and Mazola), cream puffs, cream filling and white bread.