Why it works: Cinnamon and oats are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,394 recipes. Both carry alpha-pinene, which smells pine, turpentine. The science ↓
Rolled Oats Cookies
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick 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).
Make the dough
In a bowl, cream together the sugar and butter.
Add the eggs and milk, mixing well.
In a separate bowl, combine the baking soda, cream of tartar, cinnamon, flour, and rolled oats.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring until combined.
Bake
Drop spoonfuls of dough onto a baking sheet, spacing them about an inch apart.
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.
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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Cinnamon + oatstop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,394 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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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 + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Creams with sugar to add fat, tenderness, and richness to the cookies.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the dough and helps the cookies brown during baking.
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add structure as the cookies set.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic cream of tartar to produce gas that lifts the cookies.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidic ingredient that works with baking soda to help the cookies rise.
- Rolled oats
- Add chewy texture and body to the dough.
The step that matters
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Adding dry ingredients slowly and stirring only until combined keeps the dough from being overmixed. Overmixing develops gluten in the flour, which can make the cookies tough.
Swap the cinnamon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg, milk, cream, flour, oats):
- Cinnamonthe original
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Gingerfits less well
- Capersfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, egg, milk, cream, flour, oats. 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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