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Dessert

Plain Cookies

A simple cookie made with butter, sugar, egg, baking powder, flour, salt, milk, and vanilla.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 8 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 ↓

Plain Cookies

Oven350 °F, moderate oven
Timetwelve to fifteen minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dough

  1. Cream together thoroughly the butter or shortening and the sugar.

  2. Add the slightly beaten egg.

  3. Mix and sift the dry ingredients and add alternately with the milk to the first mixture.

  4. Add flavoring.

Shape and bake

  1. Toss on lightly floured board, roll thin, cut and place on a greased baking sheet.

  2. Bake in a moderate oven (350 °F) for twelve to fifteen minutes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

845Calories
27 gProtein
26 gFat
121 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 7 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
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. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

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

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

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

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

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

  4. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,241 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

Butter or shortening
Creamed with sugar to trap air and add tenderness and richness.
Sugar
Creams with fat for a light texture and adds sweetness and browning.
Egg
Binds the dough and adds structure and richness.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the oven so the cookies rise and lighten.
Flour
Provides the main structure that sets as the cookies bake.
Milk
Adds moisture that hydrates the flour and keeps the dough workable.

The step that matters

Rolling the dough thin. Thin dough bakes quickly and evenly; thick pieces stay doughy in the centre while the edges over-brown. Rolling to an even thickness gives consistent results.

Swap the vanilla

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

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

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