Why it works: Yogurt and agave work together. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 59 recipes mention both. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
The recipe
Makes 24 barsIngredients
Contains: egg, 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.
Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Lightly grease an 8-inch square pan with a little of the coconut oil.
Whisk the whole wheat pastry flour, ground cinnamon, salt and baking soda together in a large bowl.
In a second bowl, whisk the egg, yogurt, coconut oil, water, agave nectar and vanilla extract until smooth.
Stir the oats and dried cranberries into the wet mixture, then fold in the dry flour mixture just until no dry streaks remain.
Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan and smooth the top.
Bake for about 20 minutes, until golden at the edges and set in the center.
Cool the pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then lift the bar slab out and cut it into 24 bars.
Set a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Add the chopped dark chocolate and stir until fully melted and smooth.
Drizzle the melted chocolate over the bars with a spoon or fork and let it set before serving.
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.
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Yogurt + agavetop 7% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together59 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Coconut + vanillatop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,294 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Cinnamon + vanillatop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together5,287 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
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Vanilla + chocolatetop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together10,018 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Cinnamon + agavetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together130 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the coconut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (wheat, flour, cinnamon, egg, yogurt, agave, vanilla):
- Blueberrybetter flavor fit
- Cherryabout as good a flavor fit
- Coconutthe original
- Pumpkinabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against wheat, flour, cinnamon, egg, yogurt, agave, vanilla. 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).
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