Name: Oatmeal Cookies I
Ingredients: ½ cup sugar; ½ cup molasses; ¾ cup fat; 2 eggs; ¼ cup sweet milk; 2 teaspoon cinnamon; 1 teaspoon cloves; 1 teaspoon soda; 2 cups flour; 1 cup chopped raisins; 2 cups oatmeal

Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. 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 + clovetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,189 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,075 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Cinnamon + raisintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,390 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,341 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Clove + raisintop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,070 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Flour: Provides the structure that holds the cookies together as they bake.
Eggs: Bind the dough and add structure and richness to the cookies.
Fat: Adds tenderness and richness, and carries flavor through the dough.
Molasses: Adds sweetness, moisture, and a deep brown color to the cookies.
Soda: Reacts with the acidic molasses to lift the cookies and aid browning.
Oatmeal: Gives the cookies a hearty, chewy texture.

The step that matters

Sift the soda and spices with the flour. Sifting spreads the soda evenly through the flour. Unevenly mixed soda can leave bitter patches and uneven rising in the finished cookies.

Swap the clove

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

Nutmegfits better
Cardamomfits better
Clovethe original
Allspicefits about as well

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

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Oat	1/2 cup dry (40g)	154
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Molasses	1 tbsp (20g)	58
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6

Oatmeal Cookies I