Name: Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients: light dough (for bread); 2 tablespoons shortening; 1 egg; a little sugar; butter (for spreading); sugar (for sprinkling); cinnamon (for sprinkling); additional butter, sugar, and cinnamon (for topping)

Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the dough

Prepare light dough as for bread.
Mix in shortening, egg, and a little sugar.
Roll out the dough to about ½ inch thick.

Fill and shape

Spread with butter.
Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.
Roll up the dough.
Cut it like a jelly cake.
Place in pans like biscuits.

Rise and bake

Let rise.
Add a small lump of butter, sugar, and cinnamon on top of each roll.
Bake until golden.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together30,779 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together22,662 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Butter + cinnamontop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,784 recipes

Shared aroma: anethole (sweet, anise).
Bread + cinnamontop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,705 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

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

Light dough: Provides the yeasted structure that traps gas and gives the rolls their soft, chewy crumb.
Shortening: Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and keeps the dough soft.
Egg: Adds structure and richness, helping the dough hold its shape and brown evenly.
Butter: Adds fat and flavor, melting into the layers to keep the rolls moist.
Sugar: Sweetens the filling and topping and helps the surface brown during baking.
Cinnamon: Provides the warm, aromatic flavor of the filling and topping.