Why it works: Cinnamon and strawberry jam work together. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and 32 recipes mention both. Both carry methyl cinnamate, which smells strawberry. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 8Ingredients
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.
Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment or grease it lightly.
In a large bowl, whisk the whole wheat flour, oats, brown sugar, kosher salt and cinnamon together.
Add the cold cubed butter and rub it in with your fingertips or a pastry cutter until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.
Stir in the Greek yogurt and vanilla extract if using. Add the ice cold water a little at a time, mixing, until the dough just holds together when pressed. Add more water only if needed.
Press about two-thirds of the dough firmly into the bottom of the prepared pan to form an even base.
Spread the strawberry jam evenly over the base, adding a little more jam only if needed. Crumble the remaining dough evenly over the top.
Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, until the top is golden and the jam is bubbling at the edges.
Let the pan cool completely on a rack, then cut into 8 bars.
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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Cinnamon + strawberry jamtop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together32 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
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Cinnamon + vanillatop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together5,287 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
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Oats + vanillatop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,532 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
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Wheat + oatstop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together473 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Wheat + cinnamontop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned 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
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