Name: Sugar-free Oatmeal Cookies I
Ingredients: ¾ cup vegetable shortening; sugar substitute equivalent to 1½ cups sugar; 1 egg; ¼ cup water; 1 teaspoon vanilla; 3 cups uncooked oatmeal; 1 cup flour; 1 tablespoon salt; ½ teaspoon soda

Why it works: Sugar substitute and sugar share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 79 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Sugar-free Oatmeal Cookies I

Oven350°F

Time15 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix the dough

Beat together first five ingredients.
Sift dry ingredients together.
Add oatmeal and combine all together.

Bake

Drop by teaspoon on greased cookie sheet.
Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1019Calories

25 gProtein

34 gFat

148 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 10 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Oat	1/2 cup dry (40g)	154
Vegetable	1 tbsp (14g)	120
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar Substitute	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	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.

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.

Sugar substitute + sugartop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together79 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Vanilla + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,241 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 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

Vegetable shortening: Provides fat that keeps the cookies tender and helps them spread.
Sugar substitute: Supplies the sweetness in place of sugar.
Egg: Binds the dough and adds structure as it sets in the oven.
Flour: Provides the starch and protein that give the cookies structure.
Oatmeal: Adds bulk and a chewy, hearty texture.

Swap the vanilla

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

Raisinfits about as well
Vanillathe original
Lemonfits less well
Blueberryfits less well

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