Name: Oatmeal Raisin Cookies VI
Yield: 4 dozen
Ingredients: 1 cup butter; 1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar; 2 eggs; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 1 tablespoon honey; 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 3 cups rolled oats; 1 cup raisins

Why it works: Vanilla and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,287 recipes. Both carry 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, which smells sweet, anise. The science ↓

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.

Vanilla + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,287 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
Vanilla + oatstop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,532 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Cinnamon + oatstop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,394 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Vanilla + honeytop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,262 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Oat	1/2 cup dry (40g)	154
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Honey	1 tbsp (21g)	64
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies VI