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
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 the softened butter and sugar together.
Add the egg and milk, mixing well.
In another bowl, combine the flour, oatmeal, and baking soda.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring until combined.
Drop spoonfuls of dough onto a baking sheet.
Bake
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.
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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter 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
- Adds fat and richness, and creaming it with sugar traps air for a tender texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cookies and helps them brown and crisp at the edges.
- Egg
- Binds the dough and adds structure as it sets in the oven.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the cookies together as they bake.
- Oatmeal
- Adds chewy texture and a toasty, nutty flavor to the cookies.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the dough to produce gas that helps the cookies rise and spread.
The step that matters
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Adding flour in stages and stirring only until combined keeps the dough from overmixing. Overworked flour develops gluten, which can make the cookies tough rather than tender.
“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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