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 ↓
Ginger Snaps
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the dough
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, lard, and sugar until smooth.
Stir in the molasses and ground ginger.
Dissolve the baking soda in the milk and add it to the mixture.
Gradually add flour until the dough is thin enough to roll out.
Shape and bake
Roll out the dough and cut into desired shapes.
Place on a baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes or until crisp.
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.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Molasses + gingertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,116 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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 and richness, and helps the dough cream to a smooth texture.
- Lard
- Adds fat that keeps the dough tender and helps it hold its shape.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark colour and moisture, and helps the snaps brown.
- Ground ginger
- Provides the warm, spicy aroma and flavour that defines the cookie.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the molasses to lift the dough and help it spread and brown.
The step that matters
Gradually add flour until the dough is thin enough to roll out. Too much flour makes the dough stiff and dry, so the snaps turn out tough rather than crisp. Adding it slowly lets you stop once the dough rolls easily.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, molasses, milk, flour):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Gingerthe original
- Jalapenofits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, molasses, milk, flour. 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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