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Rosemary Shortbread Cookies

"A very Victorian recipe! Some people are put off by the notion of herb cookies, but you'll be pleasantly surprised. The flavor improves with age (best 2 days after), keeping for about a week."

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Rosemary and flour work together. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and 940 recipes mention both. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

The recipe

3 dozen cookies
Prep1 hr 20 min
Cook15 min

Ingredients

Contains: milk, wheat (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. Let the butter soften at room temperature until it is pliable but not greasy, then beat it in a bowl with the 2/3 cup white sugar until light and fluffy.

  2. Stir the chopped fresh rosemary into the butter mixture so it is evenly distributed.

  3. Whisk the all-purpose flour and salt together in a separate bowl, then mix into the butter in two additions until a soft dough forms.

  4. Divide the dough in half, shape each piece into a log about 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) across, wrap tightly and chill for at least 1 hour until firm.

  5. Preheat the oven to 325°F (163°C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

  6. Unwrap the logs and slice into rounds about 1/3 inch (1 cm) thick, placing them 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart on the sheets.

  7. Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with the 2 teaspoons white sugar for decoration.

  8. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until the edges are just barely golden. Cool on the sheets for 5 minutes, then move to a rack to cool completely.

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. Rosemary + flourtop 11% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together940 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Butter + flourtop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together122,858 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Butter + sugartop 10% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together98,096 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Sugar + flourtop 10% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together89,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  5. Butter + rosemarytop 16% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together1,095 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl decanoate (grape, waxy).

Butter and flour share little aroma chemistry, yet 122,858 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