Name: Cowboy Cookies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 12 min
Yield: 3 dozen large cookies
Ingredients: 3 cups all-purpose flour; 1 tablespoon baking powder; 1 tablespoon baking soda; 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon; 1 teaspoon salt; 1½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature; 1½ cups granulated sugar; 1½ cups packed light brown sugar; 3 large eggs; 1 tablespoon vanilla; 3 cups semisweet chocolate chips; 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats; 2 cups sweetened, flaked coconut; 2 cups (8 ounces) chopped pecans

Why it works: Cinnamon and vanilla 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 ↓

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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.

Cinnamon + vanillatop 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).
Vanilla + chocolatetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,020 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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).

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
Coconut	1/2 cup shredded (40g)	283
Pecans	1 oz (28g / ~19 halves)	196
Chocolate	1 oz (28g) semisweet	155
Oat	1/2 cup dry (40g)	154
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Cowboy Cookies

Cowboy Cookies

Ingredients

Directions

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

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The flavor team