Why it works: Wheat and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,418 recipes. Both carry (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, melon. The science ↓
Geaham Biscuits
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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the dough
In a large bowl, combine the Graham flour, wheat flour, sugar, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.
Add the butter and mix until crumbly.
Beat the egg and add it to the mixture.
Gradually add milk until a soft dough forms.
Shape and bake
Roll out the dough and cut into desired shapes.
Place on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden.
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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Wheat + milktop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,418 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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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 + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Flour + wheattop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,373 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Graham flour
- Provides the coarse, nutty body and texture that defines graham biscuits.
- Wheat flour
- Adds structure and gluten so the dough holds its shape when rolled and cut.
- Butter
- Adds fat that makes the biscuits tender and crumbly rather than tough.
- Egg
- Binds the dough and adds richness to help hold the biscuits together.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidic ingredient that reacts with baking soda to produce gas for rising.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in cream of tartar to lift the biscuits and aid browning.
The step that matters
Add the milk gradually. Flour absorbs liquid at different rates and overworking wet dough develops gluten, making biscuits tough. Adding milk a little at a time lets you stop once the dough is soft and just holds together.
“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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