Why it works: Raisin and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,390 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
Sultana Cookies
Ingredients
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.
Make the dough
In a large bowl, mix together the brown sugar, butter and lard until well combined.
Add the rolled oats, chopped raisins, baking soda, and cinnamon, and mix thoroughly.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and then add the milk or water.
Combine the wet ingredients with the dry mixture and stir until a dough forms.
Roll out the dough on a floured surface and cut into desired shapes.
Bake
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) until golden brown.
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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Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Oats + cinnamontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,394 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Cinnamon + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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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
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the cookies brown and stay soft.
- Butter and lard
- Provides fat that tenderizes the cookies and carries flavor.
- Rolled oats
- Gives chewy body and bulk to the dough.
- Raisins
- Add sweetness, moisture and chewy pockets throughout the cookies.
- Baking soda
- Reacts to lift and spread the dough and promote browning.
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add structure and richness.
The step that matters
Rolling and cutting the dough. Dough made with this much fat and sugar can become sticky and warm, which makes it hard to shape. Rolling it on a floured surface and keeping it cool helps the cut shapes hold their form in the oven.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, oats, cinnamon, egg, milk):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Blueberryfits about as well
- Raisinthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, oats, cinnamon, egg, milk. 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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