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Classic Gingerbread Cutouts

"These cookies are so versatile! They are delicious, naturally low-fat, and even make terrific Christmas ornaments that keep for years. Royal Icing is best for decoration. CAUTION: These cookies have a way of disappearing!"

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 14,027 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

The recipe

3 dozen
Prep30 min
Cook12 min

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Beat the softened butter and brown sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the molasses and eggs until smooth.

  2. In a separate bowl, whisk 3 cups of the flour with the baking soda, salt, allspice, cloves, cinnamon and ginger. Stir into the butter mixture until a stiff dough forms.

  3. Divide the dough in half, flatten into discs, wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, until firm enough to roll.

  4. Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

  5. Dust a work surface with some of the remaining 1 cup of flour. Roll one disc of dough to about 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick and cut out shapes with cookie cutters, rerolling scraps as needed.

  6. Transfer the cutouts to the prepared sheets, spacing them about 1 inch apart. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the edges are firm. Cool on the sheets for 2 minutes, then move to a rack to cool completely.

  7. For the icing, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until frothy. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar and beat until stiff, glossy peaks form. Use pasteurized egg whites for this no-cook icing.

  8. Spread or pipe the icing onto the cooled cookies and let it set at room temperature for about 1 hour before stacking or storing.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together14,027 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together7,711 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Allspice + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together5,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Sugar + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together30,777 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Molasses + cinnamontop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together4,928 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Sugar and cinnamon share little aroma chemistry, yet 30,777 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

Flavor stand-ins for the allspice

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, molasses, egg, flour, clove, cinnamon):

  1. Nutmegbetter flavor fit
  2. Allspicethe original
  3. Gingerabout as good a flavor fit
  4. Cardamomabout as good a flavor fit

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, molasses, egg, flour, clove, cinnamon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).