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Romance Bars

"Chewy bar cookies with coconut, walnuts and maraschino cherries. This recipe was passed on to me by my mother-in-law. They are a Christmas tradition in our family, but I think they're perfect for Valentine's Day."

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 17 ingredients
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Why it works: Vanilla and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 19,175 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

The recipe

32 bars
Prep15 min
Cook40 min

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat, tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment.

  2. Stir the melted butter and white sugar together. Mix in 1 cup flour, then press the mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan.

  3. Bake the base for 12 to 15 minutes, until lightly golden.

  4. Whisk the beaten eggs with the brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, baking powder and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract until smooth.

  5. Stir in the walnuts, flaked coconut and chopped maraschino cherries. Spread the filling evenly over the warm base.

  6. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the top is set and golden. Let cool completely in the pan.

  7. Beat the softened butter with the confectioners' sugar, boiling water, milk, almond extract and remaining 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract until smooth and spreadable.

  8. Spread the frosting over the cooled bars. Let it set, then cut into 32 bars.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Vanilla + milktop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together19,175 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Vanilla + coconuttop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,294 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  3. Butter + milktop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together81,222 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Sugar + vanillatop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together35,031 recipes

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

  5. Walnut + coconuttop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together606 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).

Sugar and vanilla share little aroma chemistry, yet 35,031 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the walnut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, coconut, milk):

  1. Almondbetter flavor fit
  2. Pecansbetter flavor fit
  3. Cocoaabout as good a flavor fit
  4. Walnutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, coconut, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).