Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Hermits
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 the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the dough
In a bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
Beat in the eggs one at a time.
Stir in the chopped raisins, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and Magic Baking Powder.
Gradually add the flour until well combined.
Bake
Drop spoonfuls of dough onto a baking sheet.
Bake for 10-12 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.
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Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Allspice + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,536 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Allspice + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,331 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Raisin + flourtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Raisin + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add structure and richness as they are beaten in.
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar to trap air and give the cookies a tender, rich texture.
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the cookies together as they bake.
- Magic baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the cookies rise and turn light.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the dough and helps it brown during baking.
The step that matters
Creaming the sugar and butter. Beating them until light and fluffy traps air in the fat, which helps the cookies rise and stay tender. Under-creamed butter gives dense, flat cookies.
Swap the allspice
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg, raisin, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour):
- Cardamomfits about as well
- Allspicethe original
- Clovefits about as well
- Gingerfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, egg, raisin, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour. 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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