Why it works: Sugar and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 77,875 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Eggless Sugar 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
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Make and shape the dough
In a bowl, mix together the granulated sugar, sweet milk, shortening, and flavoring.
Add the baking powder and combine well.
Roll the dough very thin.
Cut into desired shapes and place on a baking sheet.
Bake
Bake in the preheated oven until lightly golden.
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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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Granulated sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the cookies brown lightly in the oven.
- Shortening
- Provides fat that tenderizes the dough and gives a crisp, short texture.
- Sweet milk
- Supplies liquid that hydrates the flour and combines the dough.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas that helps the cookies rise and lighten as they bake.
The step that matters
Roll the dough very thin. Thin dough bakes quickly and evenly, so cookies turn crisp rather than thick and cakey. Thicker dough needs more time and may stay soft in the center.
“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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