Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Sugar Snaps
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. The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the dough
Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
Add the milk and eggs, mixing well.
In a separate bowl, combine the baking soda and cream of tartar.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing until a dough forms.
Shape and bake
Roll out the dough on a floured surface and cut into desired shapes.
Place the cutouts on a baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly 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.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Sugar
- Sweetens the dough and helps it brown and stay tender when creamed with butter.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender texture and rich flavor, and traps air when creamed.
- Eggs
- Add structure and binding, and richness to hold the dough together.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the dough to produce gas, helping the cutouts rise and brown.
- Cream of tartar
- Provides acidity that activates the baking soda and keeps the dough's texture balanced.
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the shapes after rolling and cutting.
The step that matters
Mixing the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Mix only until the dough just forms. Overmixing develops too much gluten in the flour, which makes the baked cutouts tough rather than tender.
“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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