Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Spice 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. 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 large bowl, mix the brown sugar, white sugar, and eggs until well combined.
Add the nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, and dissolved baking soda to the mixture.
Gradually add flour until the dough is firm enough to roll out.
Shape and bake
Roll out the dough and cut into desired shapes.
Place on a baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden.
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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Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Allspice + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,536 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Nutmeg + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,331 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and gives the cookies a soft, chewy texture.
- White sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the cookies spread and brown during baking.
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add structure and moisture as it sets in the oven.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with acidity and raises the dough, helping the cookies rise and brown.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that lets the dough hold its shape when rolled and cut.
The step that matters
Adding flour gradually. Flour is added until the dough is just firm enough to roll. Too much flour makes the cookies dry and tough, while too little leaves the dough sticky and hard to cut cleanly.
Swap the allspice
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, nutmeg, cinnamon, flour):
- Cardamomfits about as well
- Allspicethe original
- Clovefits about as well
- Turmericfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, nutmeg, cinnamon, flour. 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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