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Dessert

Amish Puff Cookies

A sweet cookie made with shortening, sugars, eggs, flour, leavening agents, cinnamon, and optional chocolate chips, baked until puffed.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Flour and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,341 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Amish Puff Cookies

Oven375 degrees
Time8-10 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dough

  1. Mix shortening, sugar and eggs thoroughly.

  2. Mix dry ingredients and add to sugar mixture.

  3. Chill.

Shape and bake

  1. Form into balls and roll into mixture of 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon or add chocolate chips.

  2. Press balls with hand.

  3. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes on ungreased cookie sheet.

  4. Cookies will puff, then settle down and look crinkly.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

741Calories
20 gProtein
23 gFat
111 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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.

  1. Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,341 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  3. Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  5. Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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

What each ingredient does

Shortening
Provides fat that keeps the cookies tender and helps them spread.
Eggs
Bind the dough and add structure and moisture.
Flour
Forms the structure of the cookie as it sets in the oven.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic cream of tartar to lift the cookies and promote browning.
Brown sugar
Adds moisture, sweetness and a soft, chewy texture.
Cream of tartar
Acidifies the dough so baking soda can react and leaven the cookies.

The step that matters

Chilling the dough. Chilling firms the fat so the cookies hold their shape and puff rather than spreading flat. Skipping it leads to thin, greasy cookies.

Swap the cinnamon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, flour, cream):

  1. Nutmegfits better
  2. Jalapenofits about as well
  3. Cinnamonthe original
  4. Capersfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, flour, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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