Name: Soft and Easy Choclate Chip Cookies
Ingredients: 1 pkg. yellow cake mix; 1 tsp. vanilla extract; 1 pkg. semi sweet chocolate chips; 1/2 c. soft butter; 2 eggs

Why it works: Vanilla and chocolate are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,020 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓

Soft and Easy Choclate Chip Cookies

Oven350°F

Time10 to 12 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Make the dough

Mix half of cake mix, butter, vanilla and eggs until smooth.
Stir in remaining cake mix and chocolate chips.

Bake

Drop onto ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

347Calories

8 gProtein

26 gFat

18 gCarbs

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
Chocolate	1 oz (28g) semisweet	155
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Cake	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.

Vanilla + chocolatetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,020 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Vanilla + buttertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,050 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Chocolate + buttertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,543 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Vanilla + eggtop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together27,347 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

Vanilla and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 27,347 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

Yellow cake mix: Provides flour, sugar and leavening, giving the cookies their structure and soft crumb.
Eggs: Bind the dough and add structure and moisture as the cookies set.
Soft butter: Adds fat for richness and tenderness, and helps the dough hold together.
Chocolate chips: Add pockets of melted chocolate and sweetness throughout each cookie.

“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.