Why it works: Peanut and meat match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and 119 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine, which smells cocoa, roasted. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: egg, milk, wheat, peanut (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Make the dough
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, mix the shortening, syrup, sugar, and egg until well combined.
Add enough milk to achieve a mixable dough.
Stir in the sifted flour, crushed peanuts, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
Shape and bake
For rolled cookies, roll out the dough and cut into shapes.
For drop cookies, add more milk for a softer dough and drop by teaspoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet.
Bake rolled cookies for about 10-12 minutes and drop cookies a little longer until golden.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Peanut + meattop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together119 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
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Syrup + sugartop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together5,841 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Milk + peanuttop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,047 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Milk + flourtop 8% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together76,993 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + flourtop 8% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together104,138 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk and flour share little aroma chemistry, yet 76,993 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Shortening
- Adds fat that makes the cookies tender and rich.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the cookies brown as they bake.
- Syrup
- Adds sweetness and moisture, helping the cookies stay soft.
- Egg
- Binds the dough and adds structure to the cookies.
- Sifted flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the cookies together.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the dough to help the cookies rise and brown.
“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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