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Dessert

Iced Sugar Cookies

A sweet cookie made with sugar, eggs, butter, Crisco, milk, vanilla, baking powder, flour, and salt, then iced while warm.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Iced Sugar Cookies

Oven375 degrees
Timeabout 10 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dough

  1. Mix sugar and eggs.

  2. Add butter and Crisco.

  3. Add milk and vanilla.

  4. Stir in baking powder, salt, and flour.

Bake and ice

  1. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls on greased and floured cookie sheets.

  2. Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes.

  3. Ice cookies while warm.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

845Calories
27 gProtein
26 gFat
121 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Vanilla1 tsp extract (4ml)12
Salt1 tsp (6g)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.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Vanilla + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,241 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

Eggs
Bind the dough and add structure and richness as they set in the oven.
Butter
Adds fat and flavour, giving the cookies tenderness and a rich taste.
Crisco
Shortening that keeps the cookies soft and helps them hold their shape.
Flour
Provides the structure that sets as the cookies bake.
Baking powder
Releases gas during baking so the cookies rise and lighten.
Sugar
Sweetens the dough and helps the cookies brown at the edges.

The step that matters

Ice cookies while warm. Icing spreads and melts into the cookies when they are warm, so it sets smoothly on top. Icing cookies that are fully cooled may leave the icing sitting thick and uneven on the surface.

Swap the vanilla

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

  1. Vanillathe original
  2. Raisinfits about as well
  3. Figfits less well
  4. Coconutfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, butter, milk, 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.

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