Why it works: Almond and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,673 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Almond 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.
Prepare the dough
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cream the softened butter and powdered sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the beaten eggs and mix well.
Stir in the grated almonds and flour until combined.
Shape and bake
Drop spoonfuls of the dough onto a baking sheet.
Brush the tops with beaten egg and sprinkle with reserved sugar and nuts.
Bake for 12-15 minutes or until lightly 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.
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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Almond + flourtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Almond + nutstop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together394 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + nutstop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,180 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 trap air, giving the cookies a light, tender crumb and rich flavor.
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add moisture and structure as the cookies set in the oven.
- Grated almonds
- Add nutty flavor and body, and contribute fat that keeps the cookies tender.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cookies together as they bake.
The step that matters
Creaming the butter and sugar. Beating softened butter with powdered sugar until light and fluffy incorporates air that helps the cookies rise slightly and stay tender. Under-creaming leaves a dense texture, while overheated, melted butter makes the dough spread too much.
Swap the nuts
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, almond, flour):
- Pistachiofits better
- Macadamia nutfits better
- Cashew nutfits better
- Nutsthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, almond, 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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