Name: Brownies
Ingredients: ⅓ cup butter; ⅓ cup powdered sugar; ⅓ cup Porto Rico molasses; 1 egg, well beaten; ⅞ cup bread flour; 1 cup pecan meat, cut in pieces

Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Brownies

Ingredients

Directions

Mix ingredients in order given.
Bake in small shallow fancy cake tins.
Garnish top of each cake with one-half pecan.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

762Calories

20 gProtein

20 gFat

124 gCarbs

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
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Molasses	1 tbsp (20g)	58
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Pecan	1 half (4g)	20
Meat	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.

By Fannie Merritt Farmer. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,225 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together22,662 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Bread + meattop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,924 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Butter and flour 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

Butter: Adds fat for richness and a tender texture.
Powdered sugar: Sweetens and helps give a fine, tender crumb.
Porto rico molasses: Adds sweetness, moisture, and a deep caramel-like flavor.
Egg: Binds the batter and sets to add structure as it bakes.
Bread flour: Provides gluten for structure, giving a firmer, chewier crumb.
Pecan meat: Adds crunch and a toasty, nutty flavor.

“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.