Why it works: Butter and milk 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 ↓
Kate Mlnarik
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Cream one-half cup butter or half butter and lard, with one-half cup brown sugar.
Add two eggs, beaten.
Add one cup sour milk in which one level teaspoon soda has been dissolved.
Add one and three-quarters cups graham flour, not sifted, and half package or more dates, stoned and chopped.
Bake
Bake in muffin or gem pans about one-half hour.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Sour Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + flourtop 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).
Butter and flour 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
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, giving the muffins a tender crumb.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps browning.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as they set in the oven.
- Sour milk with soda
- The soda reacts with the sour milk's acid to produce gas that lifts the batter.
- Graham flour
- Provides the main structure and a coarse, nutty texture.
- Dates (in the method)
- Add sweetness, moisture and chewy pieces throughout the muffins.
The step that matters
Adding the soda to the sour milk. Baking soda reacts with acid as soon as it is wet, releasing gas that lifts the batter. Once the soda is dissolved and mixed in, the batter should go into the pans and oven without delay so that the gas is trapped before it escapes.
“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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