Why it works: Milk and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. 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.
Dissolve the baking soda in a little hot water and stir it into the molasses.
Add the milk, shortening, and salt, then stir in enough flour to make a stiff dough.
Cut the dough and bake on a floured baking sheet in a 400°F (200°C) oven.
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 + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Molasses + flourtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Molasses + milktop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,243 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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 sweetness, dark colour and a rich flavour, and keeps the cookies moist.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses to produce gas that lifts the cookies and deepens their browning.
- Shortening
- Adds fat that gives the cookies a tender texture.
- Flour
- Builds the structure that turns the mixture into a stiff dough that holds its shape.
The step that matters
Dissolve the baking soda fully before mixing it into the molasses. Baking soda must be evenly dispersed to react with the acidic molasses. Clumps leave pockets of unreacted soda that taste bitter and cause uneven rising and browning.
“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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