Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Muffins with Baking Powder
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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the batter
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and coarse sea salt.
Add the softened butter and mix until crumbly.
In another bowl, beat the eggs and milk together.
Pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until combined.
Bake
Grease muffin rings and fill them with the batter.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or 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.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the main structure of the muffins as its proteins form gluten when mixed with liquid.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas when heated, helping the muffins rise and become light.
- Butter
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and contributes richness and flavor.
- Eggs
- Add structure as they set during baking and help bind the batter.
- Milk
- Provides moisture that hydrates the flour and helps the batter come together.
The step that matters
Stir the egg mixture into the dry ingredients until just combined. Overmixing develops too much gluten in the flour, which makes muffins tough and dense instead of tender. Stop stirring once no dry flour is visible.
“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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