Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
French Jumbles
Ingredients
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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Make the dough
In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter.
Add the eggs and mix well.
In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and cream of tartar.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing until combined.
Roll out the dough and cut into desired shapes.
Bake
Bake in the preheated oven until golden, then sprinkle with sugar.
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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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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 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
- Butter
- Creams with the sugar to add fat and tenderness to the cookie texture.
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add structure and richness.
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that sets as the cookies bake.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic cream of tartar to lift the dough and help it spread and brown.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the dough so it reacts with baking soda, aiding rise and a tender crumb.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the dough and helps it brown while baking.
The step that matters
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Adding flour in stages and mixing just until combined keeps gluten development low, so the dough stays tender rather than tough. Overmixing toughens cookies.
“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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