Why it works: Egg and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Nut Kisses
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Beat the egg whites and sugar until stiff.
Fold in the chopped nuts.
Bake
Drop spoonfuls onto pans lined with buttered paper.
Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven until slightly browned.
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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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + walnuttop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,037 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + walnuttop 26% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,147 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a stiff foam that gives the cookies their light, airy structure.
- Sugar
- Stabilizes the whipped whites and adds sweetness and browning during baking.
- Hickory or english walnuts
- Add texture and nutty flavor, folded in so they stay distributed through the foam.
The step that matters
Folding in the nuts. Fold gently so the nuts are distributed without deflating the whipped egg whites. Overmixing collapses the foam, which leads to flat, dense kisses.
Swap the walnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar):
- Pecansfits better
- Almondfits better
- Chestnutfits about as well
- Walnutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar. 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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