Name: Ginger Snaps
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon baking soda; ¾ cup shortening; ¼ teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon ground ginger; 1 cup molasses; Rye flour (as needed)

Why it works: Rye and flour match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,320 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Ginger Snaps

Ingredients

Directions

Heat the molasses and pour it over the shortening.
Let it cool, then mix in enough rye flour to form a dough that is just stiff enough to handle.
Add more flour if desired.

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.

Rye + flourtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,320 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ginger + ryetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together54 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
Ginger + molassestop 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).