Why it works: Cream and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Graham Rolls
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.
Make the batter
Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a large bowl, combine graham meal, all-purpose flour, sugar, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.
Add the egg and mix until well combined.
Shape and bake
Drop spoonfuls of the batter onto a baking sheet.
Bake in the preheated oven 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.
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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + creamtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Graham meal
- Forms the main body of the dough and gives the cookie its graham flavor.
- All-purpose flour
- Adds structure so the batter holds its shape while baking.
- Egg
- Binds the dry ingredients together and adds moisture and structure.
- Cream of tartar
- Reacts with baking soda to release gas, helping the rolls rise and stay tender.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic cream of tartar to produce gas that lightens the batter.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the surface brown in the oven.
The step that matters
Bake until golden brown. Browning comes from sugars and proteins reacting in the heat. Pulling the rolls out too early leaves them pale and doughy, while leaving them in too long dries them out.
“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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