Name: Oatmeal Cookies I
Yield: 20
Ingredients: ¾ cup (180 g ) shortening; 1 cup (240 g) brown sugar; ½ cup (120 g) white sugar; 1 egg; ¼ cup (60 ml ) water; 1 teaspoon vanilla; 3 cups (700 g) rolled oats; 1 cup (240 g) all-purpose flour; ½ teaspoon baking soda; ¼ teaspoon salt; 1 cup raisins (optional)

Why it works: Flour and raisin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. 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.

Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,075 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Vanilla + oatstop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,532 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Vanilla + raisintop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together782 recipes

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

Shortening: Provides fat that gives the cookies tenderness and a soft, rich texture.
Brown sugar: Adds sweetness and moisture, and promotes browning and a chewy texture.
White sugar: Adds sweetness and helps the dough spread and crisp slightly at the edges.
Egg: Binds the dough and adds structure as it sets in the oven.
Rolled oats: Form the bulk of the cookie, adding chewiness and a hearty texture.
All-purpose flour: Provides structure that holds the cookies together as they bake.

The step that matters

Creaming the fat and sugars. Beating the shortening with the sugars until light and fluffy traps air in the dough, which affects rise and final texture. Under-creaming can leave dense cookies.

Swap the raisin

The recipe marks raisin as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, vanilla, oats, flour):

Blueberryfits about as well
Raisinthe original
Figfits about as well
Coconutfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, vanilla, oats, 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Oat	1/2 cup dry (40g)	154
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0

Oatmeal Cookies I