Why it works: Pear and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 598 recipes mention both. Both carry anethole, which smells sweet, anise. The science ↓
The recipe
8 (fewer if anyone wants seconds, which they will!)Ingredients
Contains: milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Lightly grease individual ovenproof dishes.
Core and thinly slice the pears or apples, then toss them in a bowl with the maple syrup until evenly coated. Arrange the fruit in the dishes.
In a separate bowl, stir together the rolled oats, white whole wheat flour, turbinado sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and pinch of salt.
Pour the melted butter over the dry mixture and stir with a fork until it forms loose, crumbly clumps.
Scatter the topping evenly over the fruit in each dish.
Bake for about 25 minutes, until the fruit is tender when pierced and the topping is golden brown.
Let cool for 10 minutes. Serve warm, with a spoonful of Greek yogurt on top of each crisp.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Pear + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together598 recipes
Shared aroma: anethole (sweet, anise).
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Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cinnamon + gingertop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Ginger + nutmegtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,324 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Oats + wheattop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together473 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-octenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pear, oats, wheat, flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger):
- Cardamomabout as good a flavor fit
- Nutmegthe original
- Cloveabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against pear, oats, wheat, flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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