Why it works: Clove and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Spice 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.
Make the dough
In a large bowl, mix the blotter and sugar together.
Add the molasses and baking soda, and stir until combined.
Mix in the ginger, cloves, and cinnamon.
Gradually add flour until the dough is stiff enough to roll out.
Shape and bake
Roll out the dough and cut into desired shapes.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) until firm.
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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Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,038 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Flour
- Provides structure, setting the dough so the cookies hold their shape.
- Molasses
- Adds moisture and deep flavor, and helps the cookies stay soft and chewy.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps tenderize the texture of the cookies.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses to produce gas, helping the cookies rise and spread.
- Ground ginger
- Adds warm, pungent aroma that defines the spiced flavor.
- Ground cinnamon
- Adds sweet, warm aroma to the spiced flavor.
The step that matters
Gradually add flour until the dough is stiff enough to roll out. Flour absorbs liquid and builds structure, so adding too much makes the dough dry and tough, while too little leaves it sticky and hard to shape.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cocoa powder, sugar, molasses, clove, cinnamon, flour):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Allspicefits better
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cocoa powder, sugar, molasses, clove, cinnamon, 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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