Why it works: Ginger and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,380 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Molasses Cookies
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.
Make the dough
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, mix the molasses, butter and lard mixture, and egg.
Dissolve the baking soda in boiling water and add it to the mixture.
Dissolve the alum in a little hot water and add it to the bowl.
Gradually add flour until the dough is soft enough to roll.
Stir in the ginger and cinnamon.
Shape and bake
Roll out the dough and cut into desired shapes.
Place on a baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.
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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Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Molasses + cinnamontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,928 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).
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
- Provides dark color, moisture and the characteristic sweet, slightly bitter flavor.
- Butter and lard
- Adds fat for tenderness and richness in the dough.
- Egg
- Binds the dough and adds structure and richness.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses to produce gas, helping the cookies rise and spread.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the dough together and sets during baking.
The step that matters
Dissolving the baking soda and alum. Baking soda reacts with molasses acid to leaven the dough, so it should be fully dissolved and evenly mixed in to avoid pockets of bitter soda and uneven rising.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, butter, egg, flour, cinnamon):
- Nutmegfits better
- Allspicefits better
- Clovefits better
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, butter, egg, flour, cinnamon. 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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