Pecan Cookies

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. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together81,283 recipes

   Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

2. Butter + pecanstop 11% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together2,416 recipes

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

3. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together124,287 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).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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

Adds fat for a tender, rich crumb.

Sugar

Adds sweetness and helps the cookies brown.

Sweet milk

Adds moisture so the dough holds together and bakes soft.

Baking powder

Releases gas during baking so the cookies rise and lighten.

Pecans

Add crunch and a nutty flavor throughout the cookies.

Flour

Provides the structure that sets the cookies as they bake.

Swap the pecans

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

1. Almondfits better
2. Chestnutfits better
3. Pistachiofits better
4. Pecansthe original

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