Name: Diabetic-friendly Cookies
Ingredients: 1/2 cup shortening/promise; -margarine; 1 egg; 2 tbsp sweet 'n' low; 1 tbsp butter; 1/2 cup buttermilk/sour cream; 2 cup flour; 1 tsp baking soda; 1 cup grated apple; 1/2 tsp salt; 1 tsp cinnamon; 1/2 tsp nutmeg; 1/4 tsp ground cloves; 1 tbsp vanilla

Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. 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 + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together11,917 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Apple + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,598 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,623 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Buttermilk + flourtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,721 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Shortening: Provides fat that gives the cookies a tender, crumbly texture.
Egg: Binds the dough and adds structure as the cookies set.
Buttermilk: Adds moisture and acidity that reacts with baking soda to help the cookies rise.
Flour: Forms the structure that holds the cookies together as they bake.
Baking soda: Reacts with the acidic buttermilk to produce gas that lifts the dough.
Grated apple: Adds moisture and soft texture to the cookies.

The step that matters

Drop on greased cookie sheet. Dough that is spaced too closely or not greased may spread and stick together during baking. Leaving room between drops lets each cookie set with its own shape and makes removal easier.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter, buttermilk, cream, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg):

Raisinfits better
Vanillafits better
Lemonfits better
Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, buttermilk, cream, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg. 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
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Apple	1 medium (182g)	95
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Cloves	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Diabetic-friendly Cookies