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Pillsbury’s Bran Muffins

A quick bran muffin made with Pillsbury Health Bran, Pillsbury Best Flour, and buttermilk.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and flour 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 ↓

Pillsbury’s Bran Muffins

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

Make the batter

  1. In a bowl, beat together the shortening, egg, and sugar until creamy.

  2. Dissolve the baking soda in boiling water and add it to the sour milk or buttermilk.

  3. Mix the sour milk mixture with the egg and sugar mixture.

  4. Stir in the Health Bran, flour, salt, and baking powder until thoroughly combined.

Bake

  1. Pour the batter into a greased muffin tin.

  2. Bake for 20 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. Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  3. Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

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

  5. Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

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

Milk and flour 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

Eggs
Bind the batter and add structure and richness as it sets in the oven.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic sour milk or buttermilk to produce gas that helps the muffins rise.
Sour milk or buttermilk
Adds moisture and acidity, which activates the baking soda for lift.
Health bran
Adds fiber-rich bulk and a hearty texture to the muffins.
Flour
Provides the main structure that holds the muffins together as they bake.
Baking powder
Supplies additional leavening so the muffins rise and stay light.

The step that matters

Dissolve the baking soda and combine it with the sour milk before mixing. Baking soda needs an acid, such as sour milk or buttermilk, to release carbon dioxide. Adding it to the milk first lets the reaction start, and the bubbles help the muffins rise. Delaying the mix can leave the batter flat.

“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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