Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Raised Muffins
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
Cover the yeast cake with cold water and let it dissolve.
Heat the milk scalding hot.
Beat the egg, salt and sugar together.
Pour the hot milk over the beaten egg.
Let it stand until lukewarm, then add the yeast and flour.
Beat to a smooth batter.
Rise and bake
Let rise for four or five hours.
Fill muffin pans two-thirds full.
Let rise from twenty to thirty minutes.
Bake in a hot oven.
If muffins raise over night use half the quantity of yeast.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Cake | 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.
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. See the original page.
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.
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + flourtop 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).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the muffins once the dough has risen and baked.
- Yeast
- Produces gas as it ferments, which makes the batter rise and gives the muffins a light, airy crumb.
- Egg
- Adds structure and richness, helping the batter hold its shape and bake tender.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and softness to the batter, and its proteins help give the crumb a tender texture.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast and adds sweetness and some browning to the crust.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a softer, more tender crumb.
The step that matters
Let the milk cool to lukewarm before adding the yeast. Scalding milk is too hot for yeast and can kill it, so the muffins would fail to rise. Waiting until the mixture is only lukewarm keeps the yeast alive and active for the long rise.
“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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