Name: Cinnamon Drops
Ingredients: 1 cup molasses; ½ cup melted butter or shortening; 2-3 cups boiling water; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1 teaspoon cinnamon; Flour, enough to make a batter that will drop from a spoon

Why it works: Cinnamon and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,341 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Cinnamon Drops

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

1 cup molasses
½ cup melted butter or shortening
2-3 cups boiling water
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Flour, enough to make a batter that will drop from a spoon

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.

Make the batter

In a bowl, combine molasses and melted butter or shortening.
Add boiling water and stir in baking soda and cinnamon.
Gradually add flour until the batter is thick enough to drop from a spoon.

Bake

Drop spoonfuls of batter onto a baking sheet.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) until 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.

Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,341 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Molasses + cinnamontop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,928 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter + cinnamontop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,784 recipes

Shared aroma: anethole (sweet, anise).
Molasses + flourtop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,429 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 sweetness, dark color and a rich, deep flavor.
Butter or shortening: Adds fat for tenderness and a soft texture in the finished drops.
Baking soda: Reacts with the molasses to produce gas that helps the drops rise and lighten.
Flour: Provides structure so the batter thickens and holds its shape when dropped.

“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.