Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Cream the butter and add the brown sugar.
Stir in the milk and rolled oats.
Mix in the flour sifted with baking powder and salt.
Chill the dough thoroughly to stiffen it.
Shape and bake
Roll the dough thin and cut with a cookie cutter.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 12 to 15 minutes.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + oatstop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,939 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Oats + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,119 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Butter
- Provides fat that makes the cookies rich and tender while coating flour particles.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness, moisture and a chewy texture, and helps the cookies brown.
- Rolled oats
- Give the cookies their hearty texture and body.
- Milk
- Adds moisture that hydrates the flour and binds the dough together.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cookies together as they bake.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking that lifts the dough so the cookies rise and lighten.
The step that matters
Chill the dough thoroughly. Cold dough has firm fat that melts more slowly in the oven. Chilling keeps the cut shapes sharp and reduces spreading, so the cookies hold their form and bake evenly.
“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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