Why it works: Raisin and flour match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Fruit Cookies
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
Cream the sugar and butter together.
Add the eggs and mix well.
Stir in the chopped raisins.
Dissolve the baking soda in water and add it to the mixture.
Mix in the brandy.
Add flour gradually until the dough is manageable.
Shape and bake
Roll out the dough and cut into desired shapes.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) 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.
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Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + brandytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,768 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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.
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add structure and moisture.
- Baking soda
- Reacts to lift the dough and help it spread and brown.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cookies and helps them brown in the oven.
- Raisins
- Add chewy texture and fruity sweetness throughout the dough.
The step that matters
Adding the flour. Flour should be added gradually so the dough becomes manageable without turning tough. Too much flour makes cookies dry and dense, since gluten develops with extra mixing and absorbs moisture.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg, brandy, flour):
- Raisinthe original
- Vanillafits about as well
- Figfits less well
- Apricotfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, egg, brandy, 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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