Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Sugar 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. 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.
Prepare the dough
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until smooth.
Add the milk and eggs, mixing well.
In a separate bowl, combine the cream of tartar and baking soda.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture.
Stir in the caraway seeds.
Shape and bake
Roll the dough into balls and place them on a baking sheet.
Flatten each ball slightly before baking.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly 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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Creams with the sugar to add richness and a tender texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cookies and helps them brown as they bake.
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add structure and richness.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the cream of tartar to lift and spread the cookies.
- Cream of tartar
- Provides acidity that activates the baking soda for rising and a lighter crumb.
The step that matters
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Adding dry ingredients slowly and mixing gently keeps the dough evenly combined. Overmixing develops gluten, which can make the cookies tough.
Swap the caraway
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, milk, egg, cream):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cinnamonfits better
- Tarragonfits about as well
- Carawaythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, milk, egg, cream. 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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