Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓
Molasses Cookies
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the dough
Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, molasses, sour milk, butter, ginger, and baking soda.
Gradually add flour until the dough is stiff.
Shape and bake
Roll out the dough thinly, then cut into desired shapes.
Place the cookies on a baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven until done.
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.
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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Milk + buttertop 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
- Molasses
- Adds deep sweetness, moisture and the characteristic dark color and flavor.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and rich flavor in the dough.
- Sour milk
- Acidity reacts with baking soda to help the cookies rise and soften.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic sour milk and molasses to produce gas for lift.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets the dough and holds the cut shapes.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the dough and helps with browning and crispness at the edges.
The step that matters
Gradually add flour until the dough is stiff. Adding flour gradually lets you judge the dough's texture, since too much flour makes cookies dry and tough while too little makes them hard to roll and cut.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, molasses, milk, butter, flour):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Gingerthe original
- Jalapenofits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, molasses, milk, butter, 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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