Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Oatmeal Cookies
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Make the dough
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the sour cream, baking soda, and salt, and mix well.
Stir in the rolled oats and chopped figs or dates.
Gradually add flour until the mixture forms a stiff paste.
Shape and bake
Roll the dough thin, cut into desired shapes, and place on a baking sheet.
Bake in the preheated oven 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 + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Oats + figtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together47 recipes
Shared aroma: damascenone (apple, rose).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Oats + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,939 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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
- Rolled oats
- Provide chewy bulk and a hearty, nutty texture to the cookie.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the dough and, creamed with butter, helps give a light texture and browning.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and tenderness, and is creamed with sugar to trap air.
- Sour cream
- Adds moisture and acidity, which reacts with the baking soda.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the sour cream's acidity to lift the dough and aid browning.
- Chopped figs or dates
- Add natural sweetness, moisture, and chewiness to the cookies.
The step that matters
Rolling the dough thin. Dough rolled too thick bakes unevenly and may stay doughy in the centre, while thin dough bakes through and crisps at the edges. Keep the thickness even so the cookies cook at the same rate.
Swap the fig
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (oats, sugar, butter, cream, flour):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Coconutfits about as well
- Figthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against oats, sugar, butter, cream, flour. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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