Why it works: Ginger and cinnamon 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
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 the dough
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, cream sugar and butter until smooth.
Add molasses and eggs, mixing well.
Stir in boiling water, ginger, cinnamon, and salt.
Gradually add flour until dough is manageable.
Shape and bake
Roll out dough on floured surface and cut into desired shapes.
Place cookies on baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
-
Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Sugar + molassestop 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).
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
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps create a light, tender texture when creamed with butter.
- Butter
- Provides fat for richness and tenderness, and traps air when creamed with sugar.
- Light molasses
- Adds moisture, deep sweetness, and a characteristic color and flavor to the cookies.
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add structure and richness.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cookies together as the dough is worked.
The step that matters
Gradually add flour until dough is manageable. Flour absorbs liquid and builds structure; adding too much at once or too little can make the dough either tough and dry or too sticky to roll and cut cleanly.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, molasses, egg, cinnamon, flour):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits about as well
- Allspicefits about as well
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, molasses, egg, cinnamon, flour. 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.