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Dessert

Oatmeal Muffins

A baked muffin made with oatmeal, rye flour, barley flour, milk, egg, and brown sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Rye and barley share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 66 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, pear. The science ↓

Oatmeal Muffins

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl.

Mix and bake

  1. Add the well-beaten egg, milk, and melted fat to the dry ingredients.

  2. Pour the mixture into greased muffin pans.

  3. Bake for 35 minutes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

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.

  1. Rye + barleytop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together66 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

  2. Rye + flourtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,320 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Rye + milktop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together918 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  4. Flour + barleytop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together582 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Barley + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together598 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).

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

What each ingredient does

Raw oatmeal
Adds bulk and a hearty, chewy texture to the muffin crumb.
Baking powder
Releases gas when heated, lifting the batter so the muffins rise.
Rye flour
Provides structure and a dense, earthy flavour in place of some wheat flour.
Barley flour
Adds structure and a mild, nutty flavour to the batter.
Egg
Binds the batter and adds structure and richness as it sets in the oven.
Milk
Adds moisture and hydrates the flours and oats for a tender crumb.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness, moisture, and caramel-like browning to the muffin tops.

The step that matters

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Baking powder must be evenly distributed through the flour so the muffins rise uniformly. Adding the wet ingredients promptly after combining keeps the leavening active for good lift.

“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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