Why it works: Almond and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,673 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Fortune Cookies
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Butter a baking sheet and dust it lightly with flour.
Heat oven to 350°F.
Make the batter
Beat eggs and gradually mix in sugar while beating until mixture is very thick.
Beat water in a tablespoon at a time.
Add and beat in the almond flavoring, preferably with an electric mixer, as it must be thorough.
Very gently fold in the flour to mix, but do not beat.
Bake and shape
Drop the batter by level tablespoonfuls on the buttered sheet 5 inches apart.
Bake until very lightly browned.
Remove from oven and shape while still quite warm, inserting fortunes.
Let cool in glasses to hold the form.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Almond | 1 almond (1.2g) | 7 |
| 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.
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.
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Almond + flourtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,679 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Eggs
- Whipped into a thick foam that gives the cookies their light, airy structure.
- Superfine sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps stabilise the whipped eggs as it is beaten in.
- Cake flour
- Provides the light, low-protein structure that holds the cookie together after baking.
- Water
- Adds moisture that loosens the batter so it spreads and bakes evenly.
The step that matters
Folding in the flour. Flour must be folded in very gently and not beaten. Beating develops gluten and deflates the whipped eggs, producing tough, dense cookies instead of light, crisp ones.
“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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