Why it works: Flour and wheat are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,373 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls
12 rollsIngredients
Directions
Make the batter
Mix the 1 ¼ cups whole wheat flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in a large bowl.
Add water, shortening, and egg; beat until smooth.
Stir in all-purpose flour until smooth.
Scrape batter from the side of the bowl.
Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.
Stir down the batter by beating about 25 strokes.
Shape and bake
Spoon into 12 greased medium muffin cups.
Let rise until the batter rounds over the tops of the cups, 20 to 30 minutes.
Heat oven to 400 °F.
Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
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.
-
Flour + wheattop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,373 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Wheat + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,225 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Whole wheat flour
- Adds a nutty flavor and a denser, more tender-chewy crumb than white flour alone.
- All-purpose flour
- Its gluten forms the structure that holds the rolls up as they rise.
- Yeast
- Produces carbon dioxide during rising, which makes the rolls light and airy.
- Egg
- Adds richness and structure, helping the dough hold its shape and brown well.
- Shortening
- Adds fat that softens the crumb and keeps the rolls tender.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast and helps the crust brown.
The step that matters
Stir down the batter by beating about 25 strokes. Beating deflates the gas built up during the first rise and redistributes the yeast, so the second rise is even. Doing this gently and briefly keeps the gluten from toughening the rolls.
“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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