Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Lemon Cookies
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
Cream the butter and sugar together.
Beat in the yolks of the eggs, the grated rind of one lemon, and the juice of both lemons. Beat this mixture thoroughly.
Sift the flour and baking powder together.
Whisk the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the lemon mixture.
Add more flour if the dough is not stiff enough.
Shape and bake
Turn the dough onto a floured board and roll it out thinly.
Cut into rounds with a pastry cutter.
Place on a floured baking sheet and bake at 400°F (200°C) until 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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Flour + lemontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,404 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
- Creamed with sugar to trap air and give the cookies a tender, rich texture.
- Eggs
- Yolks add richness and moisture, while whipped whites lighten the dough and help it rise.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cookies together as they bake.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the dough so the cookies rise and turn lighter in texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cookies and, when creamed with butter, helps create a light texture.
- Lemons
- Juice and rind add bright acidity and lemon aroma to the dough.
The step that matters
Adding more flour. Flour is added only if the dough is not stiff enough, because too much liquid makes the dough spread and bake soft. Adding flour gradually keeps the rounds firm enough to cut and hold their shape.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, egg, sugar):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, 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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