Why it works: Molasses and ginger are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,116 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Molasses 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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the dough
In a bowl, cream the butter and molasses together.
Add the ginger and baking soda, mixing well.
Shape and bake
Roll the dough out quite thin and cut into sheets.
Bake until soft and delicious.
Finish
Frost with boiled frosting and cut into squares.
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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Molasses + gingertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,116 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + gingertop 26% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,152 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
-
Butter + molassestop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,123 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Adds fat that creates a tender, rich texture in the dough.
- Dark molasses
- Adds sweetness, moisture, deep flavor and a dark color through browning.
- Ground ginger
- Provides the warm spiced aroma that defines the cookie.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses to produce gas that lightens the dough and aids browning.
The step that matters
Bake until soft and delicious. Cookies keep firming as they cool on the tray, so pulling them when just set keeps them soft. Overbaking dries the dough and makes the cookies hard.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, molasses):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Clovefits about as well
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, molasses. 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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