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Dessert

Ginger Snaps

A crisp cookie made from molasses, lard, ginger, baking soda, and flour.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Molasses and ginger are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,116 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Ginger Snaps

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the dough

  1. In a bowl, combine the molasses, melted lard, and boiling water.

  2. Dissolve the baking soda in a little water and add it to the mixture.

  3. Stir in the ground ginger and salt.

  4. Gradually add flour until you have a soft dough that can be rolled out.

Shape and bake

  1. Take a small amount of dough, roll it thin, and place on a baking sheet.

  2. Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) until crisp.

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.

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. Molasses + gingertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Ginger + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,564 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Molasses + flourtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,429 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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 a rich flavor that carries the ginger.
Melted lard
Adds fat, which keeps the cookies tender and helps them spread.
Baking soda
Reacts with the molasses's acidity to lift the dough and encourage browning.
Ground ginger
Provides the spicy aroma and flavor that defines the cookie.
Flour
Provides structure once mixed, so the dough can be rolled out and holds its shape.

The step that matters

Rolling the dough thin. Thin dough bakes through and turns crisp, while thick pieces stay soft in the centre. Roll the pieces evenly so they bake at the same rate.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, flour):

  1. Jalapenofits better
  2. Cinnamonfits better
  3. Allspicefits about as well
  4. Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, 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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