Why it works: Butter and coconut are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,467 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Cocoaxut Jumbles
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 batter
In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
In a separate bowl, combine the baking soda with the flour.
Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture, mixing until just combined.
Fold in the shredded coconut.
Bake
Drop spoonfuls of the batter onto a greased baking sheet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly 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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Butter + coconuttop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,467 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + coconuttop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,315 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 sugar to trap air, giving the jumbles a tender, rich texture.
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add structure and moisture as they are beaten in.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the batter to help it rise and spread lightly while baking.
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the jumbles together as they set.
- Shredded coconut
- Adds chewiness and toasted flavor as the cookies bake to golden.
The step that matters
Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture, mixing until just combined.. Overmixing once flour is added develops gluten, which can make the jumbles tough instead of tender. Stopping as soon as the flour is incorporated keeps the texture soft.
Swap the coconut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg, flour):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Coconutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, egg, 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.
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