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 ↓
Chocolate Jumbles
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°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 the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a bowl, mix the butter and sugar until creamy.
Add the grated chocolate, milk, and eggs; mix well.
Stir in the baking powder and flour until combined.
Shape and bake
Toss the dough on a floured board and roll it out to 1 inch thick.
Cut with a doughnut cutter.
Dust with sugar before baking.
Bake for 10 minutes.
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.
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Chocolate + milktop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,128 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
-
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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 sugar to add tenderness and richness to the cookie.
- Sugar
- Creams with butter for texture and adds sweetness and gentle browning.
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add structure as the cookies set in the oven.
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the cookie shape during baking.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the dough so the cookies rise and become lighter.
- Grated chocolate
- Adds chocolate flavor and a deeper aroma to the dough.
The step that matters
Roll the dough to 1 inch thick. Thickness controls how the cookies bake. Rolling evenly keeps them from spreading unevenly or drying out at the edges before the centers are set.
“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.
You might also like
The 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.
Chocolate Cream171 recipes
Chocolate Cookies76 recipes
Chocolate Fudge55 recipes
Chocolate Drop Cookies50 recipes