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Dessert

Molasses Wafers

A sweet wafer made with molasses, butter, flour, spices, and eggs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Ladies' Benevolent Society, First Congregational Church (Fall River, Mass .). Ladies' Benevolent Society, Mass.) First Congregational Church (Fall River · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,380 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Molasses Wafers

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dough

  1. Heat one cup molasses to the boiling point.

  2. Pour onto one half cup butter and mix with three cups flour, one teaspoon cinnamon, one teaspoon ginger, one teaspoon salt, one half teaspoon soda, and one teaspoon baking powder.

  3. Chill the dough.

Roll and bake the wafers

  1. Roll out the dough on a floured board as thin as possible, cut into shapes, and bake in a moderate oven.

Make and bake the drops

  1. Beat three eggs, separating whites and yolks.

  2. Beat the whites, add sugar, then add the beaten yolks.

  3. Sift in one coffee cup flour and one teaspoon baking powder.

  4. Drop spoonfuls of the batter into a buttered pan.

  5. Bake the drops in a quick oven.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

750Calories
20 gProtein
18 gFat
126 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 9 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Molasses1 tbsp (20g)58
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Coffeenot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Ladies' Benevolent Society, First Congregational Church (Fall River, Mass .). Ladies' Benevolent Society, Mass.) First Congregational Church (Fall River. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

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. Cinnamon + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,380 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Cinnamon + sugartop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Cinnamon + coffeetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together895 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

  5. Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Cinnamon and sugar 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

Molasses
Adds sweetness, dark color and moisture, giving the dough its characteristic flavor and browning.
Butter
Adds fat that tenderizes the dough and enriches its flavor.
Flour
Forms the protein and starch structure that holds the dough and batter together.
Eggs
Whites trap air for lift, while yolks add richness and binding to the drop batter.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidity of molasses to release gas, lifting the dough and deepening its color.
Baking powder
Releases gas when moistened and heated, giving the dough and drops additional lift.

The step that matters

Roll the dough as thin as possible. Thin dough dries out quickly in the oven, so it crisps into a wafer rather than puffing or staying soft. Thicker pieces will stay chewy and may not reach the intended crispness.

Swap the ginger

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

  1. Nutmegfits better
  2. Cardamomfits about as well
  3. Clovefits about as well
  4. Gingerthe original

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