Name: Ginger Snaps
Ingredients: 3 cups molasses; 1 cup hot water; 2-3 cups butter; 3 teaspoons ginger; 2 teaspoons baking soda; 2 teaspoons baking powder; Flour (enough to mix to soft dough)

Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Ginger Snaps

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

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.

Make the dough

Boil the molasses for 10 minutes.
Add hot water, butter, ginger, and baking soda.
Cool the mixture.
In a separate bowl, mix baking powder with flour to form a soft dough.

Shape and bake

Roll the dough thin.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven.

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.

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 + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Molasses + gingertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,116 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ginger + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,564 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Molasses + flourtop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,429 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Butter + gingertop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,152 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

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

Molasses: Adds sweetness, dark color, and a moist, chewy texture to the cookies.
Butter: Adds fat for tenderness and richness in the dough.
Baking soda: Reacts with the molasses's acidity to help the cookies rise and spread and brown.
Baking powder: Provides additional lift for the dough as it bakes.
Ginger: Supplies the main spicy aroma that defines the cookie's flavor.
Flour: Forms the structure that holds the dough together as it bakes.