Name: Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons butter; 1 pint all-purpose flour; 1 egg; ⅔ cup milk; 1 teaspoon baking powder; ½ teaspoon salt; 4-5 tablespoons sugar; cinnamon to taste

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 ↓

Cinnamon Rolls

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderately hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderately hot oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the dough

In a bowl, combine 1 pint of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, and ½ teaspoon of salt.
In another bowl, beat 1 egg and mix in ⅔ cup of milk.
Add the egg and milk mixture to the flour mixture and stir lightly.

Fill and shape

Roll the dough into a thin sheet and spread with 2 tablespoons of butter.
Dust with 4-5 tablespoons of sugar and sprinkle with cinnamon.
Roll the dough and cut into biscuits.

Bake

Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,341 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,655 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together30,779 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

All-purpose flour: Forms the dough's structure once mixed with the liquid and leavening.
Baking powder: Releases gas during baking so the dough rises and turns light.
Butter: Adds fat that enriches the layers and gives a tender crumb.
Egg: Binds the dough and adds richness and structure as it sets.
Milk: Hydrates the flour so the dough forms and stays moist.
Sugar: Sweetens the filling and helps the surface brown in the oven.