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Dessert

Christmas Orange-Ginger Cookies

Cookies flavored with orange rind and ginger, baked at 325°F.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Orange and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,437 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Christmas Orange-Ginger Cookies

Oven325°F
Time8 to 10 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dough

  1. Cream butter and sugar in large mixer bowl with electric mixer.

  2. Beat in egg until light.

  3. Stir in corn syrup, orange rind and water.

  4. Mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt.

  5. Stir into butter mixture to form a dough.

  6. Divide dough in half.

  7. Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate overnight.

Shape and bake

  1. Heat oven to 325°F.

  2. Have lightly greased baking sheets ready.

  3. Roll out one piece of dough at a time on a lightly floured surface or between sheets of floured wax paper to 1/8-inch thickness.

  4. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters.

  5. Place on baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between each cookie.

  6. Bake until golden, 8 to 10 minutes.

  7. Transfer to wire racks to cool.

Ice and store

  1. For icing, mix egg white and almond extract in small bowl until frothy.

  2. Stir in confectioners' sugar until mixture is a drizzling consistency.

  3. Drizzle over cookies.

  4. Let stand until icing sets.

  5. Store covered.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

838Calories
24 gProtein
20 gFat
144 gCarbs

Counts 10 of 12 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 10 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Corn1/2 cup kernels (82g)77
Orange1 medium (131g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Cloves1 tsp ground (2g)7
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Syrupnot in our table0
Waternot in our table0

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. Orange + cinnamontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,437 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,842 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Corn + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together647 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

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

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

Butter or margarine
Creams with sugar to trap air, giving the cookies a tender, short texture.
Granulated sugar
Creams with butter for lift and adds sweetness and gentle browning.
Egg
Binds the dough and adds structure and richness.
Dark corn syrup
Adds moisture, chewiness, and deeper flavor and color to the dough.
All-purpose flour
Provides the main structure that holds the cut shapes together.
Baking soda
Reacts to lift the dough and promote spreading and browning.

The step that matters

Chilling the dough overnight. Cold dough is firm enough to roll thin and cut cleanly, and chilling lets the flour hydrate and the fat set so the shapes hold their edges in the oven.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, corn, syrup, flour, cinnamon):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Raisinfits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, corn, syrup, flour, cinnamon. 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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