Name: Ginger Snaps
Ingredients: 1 cup sugar; 1½ cups molasses; 1 cup butter; 1 tablespoon baking soda; 1 cup warm water; ginger to taste

Why it works: Sugar and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Ginger 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.

Make the dough

In a bowl, mix sugar, molasses, and butter until well combined.
Dissolve baking soda in warm water and add to the mixture.
Add ginger to taste and mix well.
Drop spoonfuls of the dough onto a baking sheet.

Bake and serve

Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) until firm.
Let cool before serving.

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.

Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,225 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Molasses + gingertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,116 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sugar + gingertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together14,054 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Butter + gingertop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,152 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

Sugar and ginger barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 14,054 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

Molasses: Adds deep sweetness, moisture, and the dark color typical of ginger snaps.
Baking soda: Reacts with the molasses' acidity to lighten the dough and help it spread and crisp.
Butter: Provides fat for richness and tenderness in the cookie.
Sugar: Sweetens the dough and helps it brown and crisp as it bakes.