Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Quaker Oats Biscuits
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
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the dough
In a bowl, rub the butter and lard into the Quaker Oats and sugar until well combined.
Knead the mixture into the bread dough until smooth.
Shape and bake
Shape the dough into biscuits and place them on a baking sheet.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
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.
-
Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Oats + breadtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together258 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Oats + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,939 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Oats + sugartop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,548 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Quaker oats
- Provides bulk and a toasty, nutty flavor and chewy texture in the biscuits.
- Bread dough
- Gives the biscuits structure and a dense, bready crumb to bind the mixture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the biscuits brown during baking.
- Butter
- Adds richness and flavor, and helps the biscuits brown and stay tender.
- Lard
- Adds fat that keeps the biscuits tender and short in texture.
The step that matters
Rubbing the fat into the oats and sugar until well combined. Working the butter and lard evenly through the dry ingredients coats the oats and sugar, so the fat spreads through the dough and the biscuits bake with an even texture rather than greasy or dry patches.
“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.
Bread Pudding153 recipes
Soft Ginger Bread85 recipes
Orange Potato Bread80 recipes
Brown Bread Pudding47 recipes