Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Bakers' Ginger Snaps
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
Boil together brown sugar, molasses, shortening, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves.
Remove from heat and let cool.
Sift 4 cups of flour.
Stir part of the sifted flour into the mixture.
Dissolve baking soda in warm water and beat it into the mixture.
Stir in the remaining flour until the dough is stiff enough to roll into 1-inch diameter rolls.
Cut the dough into half-inch pieces.
Bake and cool
Place the pieces on well-buttered tins, leaving space for spreading.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C).
Let cool before removing from tins.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,038 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Molasses
- Adds dark color, moisture and a deep, slightly bitter sweetness to the dough.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the cookies stay soft and chewy.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets the dough stiff enough to roll and hold its shape.
- Shortening
- Adds fat that tenderizes the snaps and carries the spice flavors.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses to lighten the dough and help it spread and crisp.
The step that matters
Dissolving the baking soda and mixing it in evenly. Baking soda must be fully dissolved and beaten through the dough so it reacts evenly with the molasses. Unevenly mixed soda leaves bitter pockets and uneven spreading and rising.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, molasses, butter, cinnamon, clove, flour):
- Nutmegfits better
- Allspicefits better
- Cardamomfits about as well
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, molasses, butter, cinnamon, clove, flour. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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