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Dessert

Barley and Wheat Muffins

Barley and wheat muffins made with barley flour, wheat flour, molasses, eggs, milk, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and fat.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Barley and wheat match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 185 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, fruity. The science ↓

Barley and Wheat Muffins

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°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

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

  2. In a bowl, mix the barley flour, wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

  3. In another bowl, beat the eggs and add the molasses, fat, and milk.

Make and bake the muffins

  1. Combine the wet and dry ingredients until just mixed.

  2. Pour the batter into greased muffin tins.

  3. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

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. Barley + wheattop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together185 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).

  2. Wheat + milktop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,418 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

  3. Flour + wheattop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,373 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Barley + flourtop 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

Barley flour
Provides the main body and a nutty, earthy flavour, though it has less gluten to hold structure.
Wheat flour
Adds gluten to give the muffins structure and a tender crumb.
Eggs
Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set in the oven.
Baking powder
Releases gas during baking so the muffins rise and become light.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidity in the batter and molasses to help rising and promote browning.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, moisture, and a deep flavour, and contributes to browning.

The step that matters

Combine the wet and dry ingredients until just mixed. Overmixing develops gluten in the wheat flour, which makes muffins tough and tunnelled. Stop as soon as no dry flour streaks remain.

“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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