Name: Molasses Crinkles
Ingredients: ¾ cup shortening; 1 cup brown sugar; 1 egg; ¼ cup molasses; 2¼ cups flour; 2 tsp baking soda; ¼ tsp salt; ½ tsp cloves; 1 tsp cinnamon; 1 tsp ginger

Why it works: Clove and cinnamon 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 ↓

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.

Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,189 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Cinnamon + gingertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,380 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,038 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,341 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together30,779 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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

Shortening: Provides fat that gives the cookies a tender, soft texture.
Brown sugar: Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the cookies brown and stay soft.
Egg: Binds the dough and adds structure as the cookies set.
Molasses: Adds moisture, deep flavor, and color to the cookies.
Flour: Forms the main structure of the cookie as it bakes.
Baking soda: Reacts with the molasses's acidity to lift the cookies and help them spread and crack.

The step that matters

Bake just until set. Cookies keep firming as they cool, so pulling them out at 10 to 12 minutes, while still soft, keeps them chewy instead of hard and dry.

Swap the ginger

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

Nutmegfits better
Allspicefits better
Cardamomfits about as well
Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, molasses, flour, clove, cinnamon. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Molasses	1 tbsp (20g)	58
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Molasses Crinkles