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Dessert

Plain Muffins

A simple batter-based muffin made with flour, baking powder, salt, milk, egg, and optional sweetener.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Plain 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.

Make the batter

  1. Beat the egg until light.

  2. Add a portion of the liquid and sweetening if using.

  3. Mix this with the sifted flour, baking powder, and salt.

  4. Add the melted shortening and enough liquid to make a smooth batter, then beat well.

  5. Optionally, beat the egg white separately and fold it into the batter last.

Bake

  1. Place the mixture in greased muffin pans until about half full.

  2. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 350°F (175°C).

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. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Egg + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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

Flour
Provides the structure that holds the muffin together as it sets.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the batter so the muffins rise and become light.
Egg
Adds structure and richness, and helps bind the batter as it sets.
Shortening
Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and carries flavour.
Milk
Hydrates the flour and gives the batter its liquid and soft texture.

The step that matters

Fold in the batter gently and only to a smooth batter. Overbeating after the flour is added develops gluten, which makes muffins tough. Mixing just until smooth keeps the crumb tender.

“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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