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Dessert

Brandy Snaps

A sweet treat made with molasses, lard, butter, eggs, water, brandy, baking soda, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,127 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

Brandy Snaps

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 batter

  1. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

  2. Cover the mixture and let it sit overnight.

Bake

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto a baking sheet.

  3. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

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.

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.

  1. Butter + brandytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,127 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  2. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Egg + brandytop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,340 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).

  4. Molasses + brandytop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together721 recipes
  5. Molasses + buttertop 30% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,123 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Molasses
Adds dark sweetness and flavour, and helps the snaps brown.
Lard and butter
Provides fat that gives the snaps a crisp, tender texture.
Eggs
Add structure and binding to the batter.
Baking soda
Reacts to lighten the batter and help it spread and crisp.
Brandy
Adds aroma and flavour, and some liquid to the batter.

The step that matters

Baking until golden brown. Brandy snaps go from golden to dark quickly because the sugar in the molasses caramelises and burns. Pull them when golden brown; they crisp as they cool, so they will feel soft when hot.

“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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