Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Graham Crackers
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 bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.
Add the beaten egg white and mix well.
In another bowl, combine the cream of tartar, baking soda, and water.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing until smooth.
Shape and bake
Roll out the dough thinly on a floured surface using a rolling pin.
Cut into desired shapes and place on a baking sheet.
Bake for 10-15 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.
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (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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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 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
- Adds fat for tenderness and rich flavor in the crackers.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the crackers brown in the oven.
- Egg white
- Binds the dough and adds structure as it sets.
- Graham flour
- Provides the main structure and the dough's characteristic whole-grain flavor.
- Cream of tartar
- Acts as an acid that reacts with baking soda to help the crackers rise.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid to produce gas that lifts and lightens the dough.
The step that matters
Roll the dough thinly. Thin dough dries and crisps evenly in the oven. Thick or uneven dough stays soft in places and can bake unevenly or burn at the edges.
“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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