Why it works: Butter and cream cheese are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,747 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓
Lavender Cookie Bars
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Mix butter and cream cheese together in a mixer until blended well.
Cream in sugar.
Mix in egg, flour and lavender until well blended together.
Pat dough onto a lightly greased jelly roll pan (15 1/2 X 10 1/2).
Bake and finish
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Do not brown the top.
Spread the top of the warm cookie base with lavender fruit jam and sprinkle with nuts.
Cut into bars while warm.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 7 of 9 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Cream Cheese | 1 oz (28g) | 99 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Walnut | 1 walnut half (4g) | 26 |
| Pecan | 1 half (4g) | 20 |
| Lavender | not in our table | 0 |
| Fruit | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
-
Butter + cream cheesetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,747 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Cream cheese + walnuttop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together439 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + walnuttop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,873 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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 and richness, giving the bars a tender, crumbly texture.
- Cream cheese
- Adds moisture and tang, keeping the base soft and tender.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the base brown and set.
- Egg
- Binds the dough and helps it set as it bakes.
- Flour
- Provides structure so the dough holds together when baked and cut.
- Culinary lavender
- Provides the floral aroma that defines the flavor of the bars.
The step that matters
Bake until just set, without browning the top. Baking too long dries the base and browns the top, making it firm and less tender. Checking for a clean toothpick at 20 minutes helps stop baking at the right point.
Swap the walnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, cream cheese, sugar, egg, flour, lavender):
- Almondfits better
- Walnutthe original
- Pecansfits about as well
- Hazelnutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, cream cheese, sugar, egg, flour, lavender. 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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