Name: Vegan Banana Nut Scones
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 1 cup raw pecans or walnuts; 2 cups white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour; 1 tablespoon baking powder; 1 teaspoon cinnamon; ½ teaspoon ginger; ½ teaspoon salt; ⅓ cup solid coconut oil or 5 tablespoons cold butter; ¾ cup mashed ripe banana (about 2 medium bananas); ¼ cup milk of choice (almond milk, low fat milk, etc.); 2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey; ½ teaspoon vanilla extract; 1 cup powdered sugar*; ⅛ teaspoon fine grain sea salt; 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil or butter; ½ teaspoon vanilla; ¼ cup maple syrup, more if needed

Why it works: Cinnamon and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,380 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. 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.

Cinnamon + gingertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,380 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Cinnamon + almondtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,514 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Coconut + bananatop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together549 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Coconut + almondtop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,093 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
Wheat + cinnamontop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together537 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

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

Swap the pecans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (wheat, cinnamon, ginger, coconut, banana, milk, almond):

Cashew nutfits better
Flaxseedfits better
Chickpeafits better
Pecansthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against wheat, cinnamon, ginger, coconut, banana, milk, almond. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Coconut	1/2 cup shredded (40g)	283
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Banana	1 medium (118g)	105
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Honey	1 tbsp (21g)	64
Maple Syrup	1 tbsp (20ml)	52
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Almond Milk	1 cup (240ml) unsweetened	30
Walnut	1 walnut half (4g)	26
Pecan	1 half (4g)	20
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Vegan Banana Nut Scones