Name: Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients: 1 cup all-purpose flour; 2 cups rolled oats; ½ cup butter, softened; 1 egg; ¾ cup sugar; ¼ cup milk; 1 teaspoon baking soda

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 your oven to 350°F (175°C).

Make the dough

In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in the egg and milk until well combined.
In another bowl, mix the flour, oats, and baking soda.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring until just combined.

Bake

Drop spoonfuls of dough onto a baking sheet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

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.

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.

Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Oats + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,939 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Oats + milktop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,119 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 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: Creaming with sugar traps air and adds richness and tenderness to the cookies.
All-purpose flour: Provides the main structure that sets as the cookies bake.
Rolled oats: Add chewy texture and a toasted, nutty flavor to the cookies.
Egg: Binds the dough and helps give the cookies structure as they set.
Baking soda: Reacts with the dough to help the cookies rise and spread and brown.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and, creamed with butter, helps lighten the dough and promote browning.