The Science Behind Why Milk Is The Best Pairing With Cookies

Finish the sentence: "We go together like..." Like what? Peanut butter and jelly? Salt and pepper? How about milk and cookies? Not everybody dips their cookies in milk, but if it's good enough to make Ben & Jerry's name a flavor after it, it's gotta be doing something right. But why, exactly, do milk and cookies go so hard as a combo? There's actually some science behind it: The milk affects both the taste and the texture of the cookie in some really interesting ways.

It's been said that much of what you perceive as taste is actually smell; with that in mind, milk can affect the smell of a cookie in a rather pleasant manner. If the cookie is fresh out of the oven, so much the better, since warm, moist scents move more quickly. (It'll also help cool down the cookie enough so you don't burn your tongue — we've all been there, right?) Not only that, but milk is a fat, which means it has a way of coating your tongue. (That's why it's so useful for cooling you down after eating something spicy, unlike water.) Once your tongue is coated, the palate is cleansed, and you can enjoy a fresher, more vivid bite of your cookie.

But food isn't just about how good something tastes, right? If you were offered a dish sponge that tasted like a ribeye steak, you probably wouldn't be in a rush to eat it. Texture (or "mouthfeel," if you can stomach using that word in any context) is just as important — which is another reason why milk is so good for cookies. It's not that cookies need to be soft and yielding, per se — but when milk soaks into a cookie and makes it a little less crunchy and a little more crumbly, that can be a beautiful thing.

So what cookies will you dip in milk? Your ideal chocolate chip cookie? Sugar cookies, which can be elevated with the addition of that European staple, vanilla sugar? Or will you go with Johnny Cash's favorite peanut butter cookies? Whatever you choose, you won't go wrong by giving it a good ol' dunk in some sweet, creamy milk. (Unless you're lactose intolerant — in which case, go with whatever your digestive system says you can handle.)