Why it works: Flour and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Scotch Wafers
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Mix the first six ingredients.
Melt the shortening in the water and add to the first mixture.
Shape and bake
Toss the dough on a floured board, pat it, and roll as thinly as possible.
Shape with a cutter, or cut in strips with a sharp knife.
Bake on a buttered sheet in a slow oven.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Oat | 1/2 cup dry (40g) | 154 |
| Lard | 1 tbsp (12.8g) | 115 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | 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.
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.
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Oats + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,939 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Oats + flourtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,169 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the dough so the wafers hold their shape when rolled thin.
- Butter or lard
- Melted into the water to add fat, tenderness and a crisp texture.
- Fine oatmeal
- Adds oat flavour and a slightly grainy, crisp texture to the wafers.
- Rolled oats
- Contribute chewy texture and an oaty flavour to the dough.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the wafers brown during baking.
The step that matters
Roll as thinly as possible. Thin dough dries out and crisps in a slow oven, while thicker pieces stay soft and chewy in the centre. Uneven thickness causes some wafers to burn while others stay underbaked.
“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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