Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure. The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the dough
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a bowl, cream together the sugar and shortening.
Add the eggs, salt, baking soda, and sour milk; mix well.
Stir in the flour and oatmeal until combined.
Fold in the chopped nuts or raisins.
Bake
Drop teaspoonfuls of the dough onto a greased baking pan.
Bake for 10-12 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.
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.
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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 + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + nutstop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,180 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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).
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
- Shortening
- Provides fat that makes the cookies tender and helps them spread while baking.
- Sugar
- Creams with the fat for structure and adds sweetness and browning.
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add structure as the cookies set.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the sour milk to produce gas that lifts the cookies.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity activates the baking soda and adds moisture to the dough.
- Flour
- Forms the main structure that holds the cookies together as they bake.
The step that matters
Creaming the sugar and shortening. Beating the sugar into the fat traps air bubbles that help the cookies rise and keep a light, tender texture. Under-creaming leaves dense cookies.
Swap the nuts
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg, milk, flour):
- Almondfits better
- Chestnutfits better
- Milletfits better
- Nutsthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, egg, milk, 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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