Why it works: Sugar and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Ginger Cookies, No. I
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 the dough
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, rub together the butter and sugar until smooth.
Add the beaten egg, salt, and ginger; mix well.
Dissolve the baking soda in the vinegar, then stir it into the molasses.
Combine the molasses mixture with the butter mixture and beat well.
Gradually add flour until the dough is manageable and not sticky.
Shape and bake
Roll out the dough on a floured surface and cut into desired shapes.
Place on a baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.
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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Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Molasses + gingertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,116 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + gingertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,564 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 give the cookies richness and a tender texture.
- Molasses
- Adds moisture, deep sweetness and the characteristic dark color of ginger cookies.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic vinegar and molasses to produce gas that lightens the dough.
- Vinegar
- Acidifies the mixture so the baking soda reacts and helps the cookies rise.
- Flour
- Provides structure, and is added until the dough is firm enough to roll and cut.
- Egg
- Binds the ingredients together and adds structure and richness to the dough.
The step that matters
Dissolve the baking soda in the vinegar before adding the molasses. Baking soda needs an acid to react and release gas. Dissolving it fully in the vinegar first spreads the reaction evenly through the dough, so the cookies rise uniformly instead of in patches.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, molasses, vinegar, flour, egg):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Allspicefits about as well
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, molasses, vinegar, flour, egg. 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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