Why it works: Ginger and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,380 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Molasses 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 mixing bowl, combine the flour, molasses, lard, and butter.
Add the baking soda, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, ground mace, and lemon oil.
Gradually mix in the water until a dough forms.
Shape and bake
Roll out the dough and cut into desired shapes.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Ginger + lemontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,154 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Cinnamon + lemontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cinnamon + macetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the cookie together as it bakes.
- Molasses
- Adds moisture, deep sweetness, and color that helps the cookies brown.
- Lard and butter
- Supplies fat that tenderizes the dough and adds richness to the texture.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the molasses's acidity to lift the dough and promote browning.
The step that matters
Gradually mixing in the water until a dough forms. Adding water slowly and stopping once the dough forms prevents overmixing, since excess mixing develops gluten and can make the cookies tough.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, molasses, butter, ginger, cinnamon, lemon):
- Cardamomfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Allspicefits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, molasses, butter, ginger, cinnamon, lemon. 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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