Why it works: Clove and cinnamon 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 ↓
Spice Cookies
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot 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).
In a bowl, cream together the brown sugar and butter. Add the eggs and mix well.
Make the dough
In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cloves, and cinnamon.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Stir in the raisins.
Bake
Drop spoonfuls of the dough onto a baking sheet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden.
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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Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cinnamon + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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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 + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the cookies brown and stay soft.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, and helps give the cookies tenderness.
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add structure as the cookies set.
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the cookies as the dough bakes.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic thick sour milk to lift and lighten the cookies.
- Thick sour milk
- Provides acidity that activates the baking soda for rising.
The step that matters
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Adding flour in stages helps blend the dough evenly and prevents lumps. Mixing too vigorously after the flour goes in can toughen the cookies.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg, flour, milk, cinnamon, raisin):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Clovethe original
- Allspicefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, egg, flour, milk, cinnamon, raisin. 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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