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Dessert

Oatmeal Drops

Oatmeal Drops are small baked drops made with egg, butter, sugar, oatmeal, baking powder, salt, and optional flavoring.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Egg and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓

Oatmeal Drops

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Mix and shape

  1. In a bowl, combine the beaten egg, melted butter, sugar, baking powder, oatmeal, salt, and flavoring.

  2. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture very far apart on baking sheets.

Bake

  1. Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).

  2. Bake until lightly golden.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  2. Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Egg
Binds the mixture and gives the drops structure as it sets.
Butter
Adds fat for a tender texture and rich flavour.
Sugar
Sweetens the drops and helps them brown lightly in the oven.
Baking powder
Releases gas during baking so the drops rise and lighten.
Oatmeal
Provides the bulk and chewy texture of the drops.

The step that matters

Spacing the drops. The mixture spreads as it bakes because the butter and sugar melt and the batter loosens. Drops placed too close together can merge into one sheet, so leave generous room between them.

“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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