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Cinnamon Cookies

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Molasses and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,928 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Cinnamon Cookies

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

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

  2. In a bowl, mix the molasses, baking soda, and vinegar.

  3. Add the water and lard, then stir until combined.

  4. Mix in the ground cinnamon.

  5. Shape the dough with your hands instead of rolling it out.

  6. Place the shaped cookies on a baking sheet and bake until done.

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. Molasses + cinnamontop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,928 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Vinegar + cinnamontop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

  3. Molasses + vinegartop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,253 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

Swap the cinnamon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, vinegar):

  1. Allspicefits about as well
  2. Clovefits about as well
  3. Cinnamonthe original
  4. Gingerfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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