Name: Orange Drop Cookies with Frosting
Ingredients: Cookies; 1 cup brown sugar; 1 cup shortening; 2 eggs; 1 cup buttermilk (or sour milk); 3 cups flour; 2 teaspoons baking powder; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; Grated rind of 1 orange; Frosting; 1 egg yolk; Juice and rind of 1 orange; Enough powdered sugar to make desired consistency.

Why it works: Vanilla and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,371 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. 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.

Vanilla + orangetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,371 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Buttermilk + flourtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,721 recipes

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

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar + buttermilktop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,973 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Flour + vanillatop 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

Shortening: Adds fat that tenderizes the cookie and gives a soft, rich texture.
Eggs: Bind the dough and add structure and richness to the cookies.
Buttermilk: Its acidity reacts with the baking soda so the cookies rise and stay tender.
Flour: Provides the structure that holds the cookies together as they bake.
Baking soda: Reacts with the acidic buttermilk to produce gas that makes the cookies rise.
Brown sugar: Adds sweetness, moisture and a caramel flavor to the cookies.

The step that matters

Alternate adding buttermilk with flour into the creamed mixture. Adding the wet and dry ingredients in alternating portions helps the batter blend evenly without overmixing. Too much mixing develops gluten and can make the cookies tough.

Swap the orange

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

Raisinfits better
Blueberryfits better
Figfits better
Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, buttermilk, flour, vanilla. 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
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Sour Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Orange	1 medium (131g)	62
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Orange Drop Cookies with Frosting