Why it works: Flour and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,673 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Oatmeal or Rolled Oats Macaroons
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
Make the batter
Cream together the butter and sugar.
Add the beaten eggs and mix until light.
Combine the baking powder with the flour and add to the mixture.
Stir in the rolled oats and almond extract.
Shape and bake
Grease a baking pan and drop spoonfuls of batter to form macaroons.
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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Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Oats + almondtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together552 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as they set in the oven.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat that softens the batter and carries flavor.
- White sugar
- Creams with the butter and adds sweetness and tender browning.
- Rolled oats
- Provide the bulk and chewy texture that gives the macaroons their body.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the macaroons rise and lighten.
The step that matters
Add the beaten eggs and mix until light. Creaming butter and sugar traps air, and beating the eggs in well keeps that air in the batter. Light batter rises more evenly and gives a softer, less dense macaroon.
“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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