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Baking

Brown Sugar Cookies I

Rolled and cut brown sugar cookies made with shortening, eggs, milk, vanilla and soda.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Brown Sugar Cookies I

Ovenmoderate oven (380 degrees F.)

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dough

  1. Mix ingredients in the order given.

  2. Add just enough flour to roll.

Shape and bake

  1. Cut into shapes as desired.

  2. Sprinkle with brown sugar.

  3. Bake in a moderate oven (380 degrees F.).

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

845Calories
27 gProtein
26 gFat
121 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Vanilla1 tsp extract (4ml)12

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. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Vanilla + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,241 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the cookies brown and stay soft.
Shortening
Provides fat that makes the cookies tender and helps them hold their shape.
Eggs
Bind the dough and add structure as the cookies set.
Soda
Leavens the dough so the cookies rise and spread as they bake.
Flour
Forms the structure that holds the cookies together.
Milk
Adds moisture that helps hydrate the flour and soften the dough.

The step that matters

Add just enough flour to roll.. Flour absorbs liquid and builds gluten. Too much flour makes the dough stiff and the baked cookies dry and tough.

Swap the vanilla

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

  1. Vanillathe original
  2. Raisinfits about as well
  3. Figfits less well
  4. Blueberryfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, milk, flour. 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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