Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Cinnamon Rolls
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.
Make the dough
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
Add the milk and eggs, mixing well.
In a separate bowl, combine the cream of tartar and baking soda.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture.
Shape and bake
Roll out the dough thinly on a floured surface.
Spread with butter, sugar, and cinnamon.
Roll up the dough tightly and cut into ½ inch thick slices.
Place the rolls on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until 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.
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
-
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Adds fat and richness, helping the dough stay tender and the rolls taste rich.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the rolls brown during baking.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, binding the dough together.
- Milk
- Adds moisture, hydrating the dough so it can be rolled.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the dough and reacts with baking soda to help it rise.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in cream of tartar to produce gas that lifts the dough.
The step that matters
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Adding dry ingredients slowly and mixing gently keeps the batter evenly combined and prevents lumps, while avoiding overmixing that would toughen the dough by developing too much gluten.
Swap the cinnamon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, milk, egg, cream):
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Cinnamonthe original
- Tarragonfits less well
- Gingerfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, milk, egg, cream. 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.
More cinnamon rolls recipes
You might also like
Cinnamon Cake42 recipes
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.