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Poppy Seed Muffins

"These are the best muffins I have ever made. They are not low-fat but I don't worry. (I can watch other stuff - these are too good) I make them in the jumbo muffin pans but they will work in the normal size - just adjust the baking time."

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Poppy seed and almond share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 91 recipes mention both. Both carry 3-methylbutanol, which smells malty, whiskey. The science ↓

The recipe

12 - 18 large muffins
Prep25 min
Cook20 min

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat, tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and line muffin cups with paper liners.

  2. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the 2 1/2 cups white sugar until light, then whisk in the vegetable oil, milk, 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract and 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract.

  3. In a separate bowl, whisk the all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder and poppy seeds together.

  4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir just until no dry flour remains. Do not overmix.

  5. Spoon the batter into the prepared liners, filling each about three-quarters full.

  6. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, until the tops spring back and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The eggs must be fully set in the centers.

  7. While the muffins bake, stir the 3/4 cup white sugar, orange juice, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon almond extract and melted butter in a small bowl.

  8. Brush the glaze over the warm muffins as soon as they come out of the oven, then let them cool in the pan for 5 minutes before moving them to a rack.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Poppy seed + almondtop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together91 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-methylbutanol (malty, whiskey).

  2. Milk + vanillatop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together19,175 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together35,031 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Vanilla + orangetop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,371 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Almond + flourtop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together8,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Sugar and vanilla share little aroma chemistry, yet 35,031 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

Flavor stand-ins for the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, milk, poppy seed, vanilla, almond, flour):

  1. Figbetter flavor fit
  2. Coconutbetter flavor fit
  3. Raisinbetter flavor fit
  4. Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, milk, poppy seed, vanilla, almond, flour. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).