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 ↓
Bran Muffins or Health Muffins
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, mix the bran, flour, baking soda, and salt.
In another bowl, combine the molasses, milk, egg, and melted butter.
Mix and bake
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
Fold in nuts or raisins if desired.
Spoon the batter into greased muffin tins.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
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.
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.
-
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).
-
Flour + nutstop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,180 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
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
- Bran
- Adds fibre and a hearty texture, absorbing liquid to give the muffins body.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides structure so the muffins hold their shape as they bake.
- Molasses
- Adds moisture, deep sweetness and a dark color to the muffins.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and helps set the crumb as it bakes.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the molasses's acidity to produce gas that lifts the muffins.
- Milk
- Hydrates the bran and flour so the batter forms and the muffins stay moist.
The step that matters
Stir the batter until just combined. Overmixing develops gluten in the flour, which makes muffins tough and tunnelled. Lumps left in the batter are fine and keep the texture tender.
Swap the nuts
The recipe marks nuts as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, molasses, milk, egg, butter):
- Almondfits better
- Walnutfits about as well
- Pecansfits about as well
- Nutsthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, molasses, milk, egg, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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.
You might also like
Molasses Cookies96 recipes
Molasses Cake90 recipes
Molasses Sponge Cake9 recipes
White Cake431 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.