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Dessert

Snickerdoodles

A sweet baked treat made with sugar, butter, eggs, milk, flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, cinnamon, and sugar.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Snickerdoodles

Serves 24
Time15 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Stir together sugar and butter until creamy.

  2. Dissolve the baking soda in the milk, then add it.

  3. Add flour, cream of tartar and salt.

  4. Beat the batter thoroughly.

Bake and finish

  1. Pour into shallow pans.

  2. Dust the top of the cake with cinnamon and sugar.

  3. Bake for 15 minutes.

  4. Cool, then cut into squares.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

890Calories
28 gProtein
31 gFat
123 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
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 Wikibooks Cookbook.

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

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

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,341 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Flour
Forms the structure that holds the cookie's shape and crumb.
Butter
Adds fat that gives richness and tenderness, and creams with sugar to trap air.
Eggs
Bind the dough and add moisture and structure as they set.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acid in cream of tartar to produce gas that helps the batter rise.
Cream of tartar
Provides acidity that activates the baking soda and contributes to a tender texture.
Sugar
Sweetens the batter and helps browning, while creaming with butter adds air.

The step that matters

Beat the batter thoroughly. Once flour is in, mixing develops gluten, which can toughen the crumb if overdone. Beating well still matters, because it spreads the baking soda and cream of tartar evenly so the rise is even.

Swap the cinnamon

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

  1. Nutmegfits about as well
  2. Cinnamonthe original
  3. Capersfits less well
  4. Jalapenofits less well

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