Name: Sour Cream-Ginger Cookies
Ingredients: 1/4 cup vegetable oil; 1/2 cup brown sugar; 1/3 cup molasses; 1 egg, (large); 1/2 cup sour cream; 2 cup all-purpose flour; 1/2 tsp ginger; 1/2 tsp cinnamon; 1/2 tsp cloves; 1/2 tsp salt; 1/2 tsp baking soda

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).
Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,380 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,038 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,341 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

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

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 set.
Brown sugar: Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the cookies brown.
Molasses: Adds depth of flavor, moisture and a darker color to the cookies.
Sour cream: Adds moisture and tenderness, and its acidity reacts with the baking soda.
Baking soda: Reacts with the acidic sour cream and molasses to lift and lighten the cookies.
Egg: Binds the dough and adds structure as it sets in the oven.

The step that matters

Baking time. Baking only until the edges are set and the cookies are firm, then removing them, keeps them soft and chewy. Overbaking dries them out as they cool on the sheet.

Swap the clove

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

Nutmegfits better
Cardamomfits about as well
Allspicefits about as well
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, molasses, egg, cream, flour, ginger, cinnamon. 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
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
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
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Sour Cream-Ginger Cookies