Why it works: Ginger and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,380 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Ginger Cookies
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Make the dough
In a bowl, mix together the butter, sugar, and molasses.
Add the ginger and cinnamon, and mix well.
Dissolve the baking soda in the hot water and add it to the mixture.
Stir until combined and drop spoonfuls onto a baking sheet.
Bake
Bake until golden brown.
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.
-
Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Molasses + cinnamontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,928 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Molasses + gingertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,116 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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 gives the cookies a tender, rich texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cookies and helps them brown during baking.
- Molasses
- Adds moisture, deep sweetness and a dark color to the cookies.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the molasses's acidity to lift the cookies and help them spread and brown.
- Ginger
- Provides the main spicy aroma that defines the cookie's flavor.
The step that matters
Dissolve the baking soda in the hot water. Baking soda must be fully dissolved so it reacts evenly through the dough. Lumps leave bitter spots and uneven rising, while the acidic molasses supplies the reaction that lifts the cookies.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, molasses, cinnamon):
- Nutmegfits better
- Clovefits about as well
- Allspicefits about as well
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, molasses, cinnamon. 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.
More ginger cookies recipes
You might also like
Molasses Cookies96 recipes
Ginger Cake93 recipes
Molasses Cake90 recipes
Soft Ginger Bread85 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.