Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Ginger Snaps
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 the dough
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, lard, brown sugar, and baking molasses until well combined.
Add the baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and black pepper, then mix until smooth.
Shape and bake
Roll the dough into small balls and place them on a baking sheet, then flatten each ball slightly with your hand.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are firm.
Allow to cool on a wire rack before serving.
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.
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Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,038 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Ginger + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,800 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cookies together as they bake.
- Lard
- Adds fat that gives the cookies a tender, short texture.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the cookies brown.
- Baking molasses
- Adds moisture, deep sweetness, and a dark color to the dough.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the molasses's acidity to help the cookies rise and spread.
The step that matters
Bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges are firm. Baking soda and molasses react with heat, and the cookies keep firming as they cool. Pulling them once the edges are set, rather than waiting for the centers to look done, keeps them from drying out and turning brittle.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, molasses, cinnamon, clove, pepper):
- Allspicefits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, molasses, cinnamon, clove, pepper. 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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