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Dessert

Chocolate Cookies

A cookie made with rye, barley, and rice flours, chocolate, and milk.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Chocolate Cookies

Why it works: Barley and rice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 568 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Chocolate Cookies

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the dough

  1. Mix together the shortening, sugar, beaten egg, salt, and melted chocolate.

  2. Sift together the rye flour, barley flour, rice flour, and baking powder.

  3. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk to the wet mixture.

  4. Chill the dough.

Shape and bake

  1. Roll it out thinly.

  2. Cut with a small cutter.

  3. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C).

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.

  1. Barley + ricetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together568 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  2. Rye + barleytop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together66 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

  3. Rice + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,374 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Rye + flourtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,320 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Rye + ricetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together54 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Rye flour
Provides some structure while contributing a mild, earthy flavor.
Barley flour
Adds structure and a slightly nutty flavor, with less gluten to build chewiness.
Baking powder
Releases gas when heated, helping the cookies rise and turn light.
Melted chocolate
Adds chocolate flavor and fat, contributing richness and a tender texture.
Shortening
Adds fat that tenderizes the dough and carries flavor.
Egg
Binds the dough and adds structure as it sets in the oven.

The step that matters

Add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk. Adding flour and liquid in portions keeps the dough evenly mixed and prevents lumps. Overworking the dough once flour is in can make cookies tough, so mix only until combined.

“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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