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Dessert

Whole-wheat, Barley-flour, and Rice Muffins

A muffin made with whole-wheat, barley, and rice flours, eggs, molasses, and milk.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Barley and rice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 568 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Whole-wheat, Barley-flour, and Rice 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).

Mix the batter

  1. In a bowl, mix the whole-wheat flour, barley flour, rice flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

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

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

Bake

  1. Pour the batter into muffin tins and bake for 20-25 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. Barley + ricetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together568 recipes

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

  2. Wheat + barleytop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together185 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).

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

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

  4. Wheat + ricetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together423 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  5. Rice + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,374 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Whole-wheat flour
Provides the main structure and a hearty, nutty flavour.
Barley flour
Adds body and a mild, malty flavour, with less gluten to build structure.
Rice flour
Lightens the crumb and adds a delicate, tender texture.
Eggs
Bind the batter and help set the structure as the muffins bake.
Baking powder
Releases gas during baking, so the muffins rise and become light.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, moisture, and a deep flavour with some browning.

The step that matters

Combine the wet and dry ingredients until just mixed. Stirring too long develops gluten in the wheat flour, which makes muffins tough and dense. Stop once no dry streaks remain, leaving a few lumps.

“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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