Why it works: Oats and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,532 recipes. Both carry alpha-pinene, which smells pine, turpentine. The science ↓
Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
Directions
Mix and shape
Mix 1 cup rolled oats, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup melted butter, 1 teaspoon soda in hot water, 2 eggs, 1 cup raisins, 1 cup nutmeats, and enough flour to roll thin.
Cut dough into pieces and bake in quick oven.
Beat, drop and bake
Beat 1 tablespoon butter, 1 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 teaspoon salt separately.
Mix all together and drop in small teaspoons on a buttered pan. Bake in quick oven.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
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Oats + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,532 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
-
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Raisin + vanillatop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together782 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Oats + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,939 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add structure as they set in the oven.
- Brown sugar
- Adds moisture and sweetness, and helps the cookies brown and stay chewy.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and richness in the dough.
- Rolled oats
- Give the cookies their hearty, chewy texture.
- Soda (in the method)
- Helps the cookies rise and spread in the oven.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (oats, sugar, butter, vanilla, egg):
- Blueberryfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Figfits better
- Raisinthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against oats, sugar, butter, vanilla, egg. 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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