Name: Zucchini Muffins I
Ingredients: ¾ cup flour; ½ tsp baking powder; ¾ tsp cinnamon; ¼ tsp ground nutmeg; ½ tsp baking soda; ⅛ tsp salt; 8 tsp sugar; ½ tsp vanilla; 2 tbsp water; 1 tbsp + 1 tsp vegetable oil; 2 eggs; 1 cup zucchini, shredded unpeeled; ¼ cup raisins

Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

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.

Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together11,917 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,075 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Cinnamon + raisintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,390 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Cinnamon + vanillatop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,287 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
Nutmeg + raisintop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,377 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).

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

What each ingredient does

Flour: Provides the structure that holds the muffin crumb together as it bakes.
Eggs: Bind the batter and help set the crumb during baking.
Zucchini: Adds moisture, keeping the muffins tender and soft.
Baking soda: Reacts with the batter to produce gas that helps the muffins rise.
Baking powder: Adds additional leavening so the muffins rise in the oven.
Vegetable oil: Adds fat that keeps the crumb moist and tender.

The step that matters

Mix together just until moistened.. Overmixing the batter develops gluten in the flour, which can make the muffins tough and dense. Stopping once the dry ingredients are just moistened keeps the crumb tender.

“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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Cucumber	1/2 cup sliced (52g)	16
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0

Zucchini Muffins I