Why it works: Flour and raisin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. 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
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Mix and shape
In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, sugar, shortening, eggs, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, and raisins. Stir until well mixed.
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto a baking sheet, about the size of an English walnut.
Bake
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
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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Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cinnamon + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Oats + cinnamontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,394 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the cookie together as it bakes.
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add structure and richness as they set in the oven.
- Shortening
- Adds fat that tenderizes the cookies and helps them spread while baking.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cookies and helps them brown and crisp at the edges.
- Baking soda
- Reacts to create gas that lifts the cookies and encourages browning.
- Quaker oats
- Add chewy texture and a toasty, hearty bite to the cookies.
The step that matters
Shaping the spoonfuls. Dough portions that are too large or unevenly sized will bake unevenly, leaving some cookies underdone in the centre while others over-brown at the edges. Keeping them about walnut-sized and similar in size helps them bake at the same rate.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, oats, egg, sugar, butter, cinnamon):
- Vanillafits about as well
- Raisinthe original
- Blueberryfits less well
- Figfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, oats, egg, sugar, butter, cinnamon. 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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