Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare baking sheet.

Cream sugar, butter and shortening. Stir in eggs and almond extract. Combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt and add to butter/egg mixture.

Use electric mixture to ensure dough is thoroughly combined.

Chill dough in fridge for 30 minutes.

Roll 2 tsp of dough (I used a small cookie scoop to make things easier) into a ball and roll in raw sugar. Place on prepared pan.

Bake cookies for 7 minutes. Remove from oven and gently press the tops of the cookies flat with the back of a spoon while they are still warm and pliable. (The cornstarch keeps them from spreading so they will be mounded up).

Return bowl of dough to fridge in between baking batches.

Remove to cooling rack. Allow to cool completely.

A tip:

~DO NOT bake longer than 7-8 minutes!! They may seem under-baked, but when they cool they will firm up.