Why it works: Ginger and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,380 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Ginger 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.
Make the dough
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, mix together the molasses, sugar, lard, and sour milk.
Add the baking soda, ginger, and cinnamon, and mix well.
Beat in the eggs until fully combined.
Drop spoonfuls of the dough onto a baking sheet.
Bake
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.
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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Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Molasses + cinnamontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,928 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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
- Molasses
- Adds moisture, dark color and a deep sweetness to the dough.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the sour milk to produce gas, helping the cookies rise and spread.
- Lard
- Provides fat that tenderizes the texture and carries flavor.
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add structure as the cookies set.
- Sour milk
- Supplies acidity that activates the baking soda and adds moisture.
The step that matters
Bake until golden brown. Molasses-rich dough browns and darkens quickly, and over-baking dries the cookies and makes them hard. Pull them when the edges are golden to keep them soft in the centre.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, sugar, milk, cinnamon, egg):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits about as well
- Clovefits about as well
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, sugar, milk, cinnamon, egg. 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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