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Dessert

Mona-Lisa Italian Chocolate Nut Cookies

A chocolate cookie with almonds and raisins, baked into small balls.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 10 ingredients
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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 ↓

Mona-Lisa Italian Chocolate Nut Cookies

Oven350°F
Time12 to 15 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the chocolate syrup

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

  2. Combine margarine, unsweetened cocoa powder, light brown sugar, and water in a pot.

  3. Heat slowly, stirring until the mixture resembles a syrup.

  4. Let cool to room temperature.

Make the dough

  1. Combine whole wheat flour with baking powder, cinnamon, and cloves.

  2. Pour in the chocolate syrup and work into a stiff batter.

  3. Add finely chopped almonds and raisins.

  4. Form into balls no larger than 1 inch and arrange on cookie sheets.

Bake

  1. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

843Calories
16 gProtein
23 gFat
144 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 9 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Chocolate1 oz (28g) semisweet155
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Almond1 almond (1.2g)7
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Waternot in our table0

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. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Cinnamon + almondtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,514 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Cinnamon + raisintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,390 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  5. Almond + raisintop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,781 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

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

What each ingredient does

Margarine
Adds fat that keeps the cookies tender and helps bind the syrup.
Unsweetened cocoa powder
Provides the chocolate flavour and deep colour of the cookies.
Light brown sugar
Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the syrup thicken as it cools.
Wholewheat flour
Provides the structure that turns the syrup into a stiff, shapeable dough.
Baking powder
Releases gas during baking so the cookies rise and lighten.
Finely chopped almonds
Add crunch and nutty flavour to the dough.

The step that matters

Let the syrup cool to room temperature. Warm syrup would make the dough runny and hard to shape, and it would spread in the oven. Cooling lets the flour absorb moisture and firm the dough into a stiff batter.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cocoa powder, sugar, flour, cinnamon, almond, raisin):

  1. Nutmegfits better
  2. Cardamomfits better
  3. Clovethe original
  4. Allspicefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against cocoa powder, sugar, flour, cinnamon, almond, raisin. 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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