Name: Christmas Nut Drops
Ingredients: 1 cup granulated sugar; 1 cup cracker crumbs; 1 cup finely chopped peanuts; 2 eggs

Why it works: Sugar and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Christmas Nut Drops

Ingredients

1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup cracker crumbs
1 cup finely chopped peanuts
2 eggs

Directions

In a bowl, combine granulated sugar, cracker crumbs, chopped peanuts, and eggs.
Mix until well combined.
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto a baking sheet.

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 + eggtop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar + peanuttop 27% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,545 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Peanut + eggtop 29% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,351 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).