Why it works: Cinnamon and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,380 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Ginger Cookies Without Shortning
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.
Make the dough
In a bowl, combine the ginger and baking soda with the vinegar.
Stir well and add the egg, molasses, sugar, cinnamon, and salt, then mix until soft dough forms.
Bake
Drop spoonfuls onto a baking sheet and bake in a quick oven at 400°F (200°C) until done.
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 + gingertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Molasses + cinnamontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,928 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Molasses + gingertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,116 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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
- Egg
- Binds the dough and adds structure and moisture to the cookies.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, moisture, and a chewy texture with deep color.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cookies and helps them brown during baking.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the vinegar to release gas that lifts the cookies as they bake.
- Vinegar
- Provides acidity that activates the baking soda, producing gas for lift.
- Ginger
- Gives the cookies their warm, spicy aroma and flavor.
The step that matters
Combine the baking soda and vinegar first. Vinegar reacts with baking soda to release carbon dioxide, which lifts the dough. Letting this reaction happen in the bowl before adding the other ingredients helps the cookies rise rather than stay flat and dense.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, molasses, sugar, cinnamon, vinegar):
- Nutmegfits better
- Allspicefits better
- Clovefits about as well
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, molasses, sugar, cinnamon, vinegar. 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.
More ginger cookies recipes
You might also like
Molasses Cookies96 recipes
Ginger Cake93 recipes
Molasses Cake90 recipes
Soft Ginger Bread85 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.