Why it works: Molasses and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Soft Ginger Cookies
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the dough
Cream butter, molasses, sugar, and water together in a large bowl.
Stir in ginger and baking soda.
Gradually add flour until dough is manageable.
Shape and bake
Roll out dough on a floured surface and cut into shapes.
Place cookies on a baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.
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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Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Molasses + gingertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,116 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Ginger + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,564 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
- Butter
- Adds fat that keeps the cookies tender and rich.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, moisture, and the dark color and chewy texture of the cookies.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the cookies brown as they bake.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses to make the cookies rise and spread.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the dough and cut shapes together.
- Ginger
- Provides the warm, spicy aroma and flavor that defines the cookies.
The step that matters
Gradually add flour until dough is manageable. Adding too much flour makes the dough stiff and the cookies dry and tough. Adding it gradually lets you stop once the dough is just workable, which keeps the cookies tender.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, molasses, sugar, flour):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Jalapenofits better
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, molasses, sugar, flour. 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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