Why it works: Sugar and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 98,233 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Stingy Cookies
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a rather slow oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Mix the sugar, lard or butter, cold water, and baking soda until stiff.
Roll the dough very thin.
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) until done.
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 + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the cookies brown during baking.
- Lard or butter
- Provides fat that gives the cookies tenderness and a short texture.
- Baking soda
- Reacts to lift the dough and promote browning in the oven.
The step that matters
Rolling the dough very thin. Thin dough bakes through quickly and crisps evenly, while thick dough can stay doughy in the middle and burn at the edges.
“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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