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 ↓
Rich Breakfast Muffins
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and sugar together.
In another bowl, beat the eggs and then add the milk and melted butter.
Make and bake
Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Drop the mixture into well-greased muffin forms.
Bake for about 30 minutes until golden brown.
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.
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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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 together as they bake.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, helping the muffins rise and become light.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, setting as the muffins bake.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and hydrates the flour to form the batter.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and flavor.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the muffins brown as they bake.
The step that matters
Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Mixing until just combined keeps the muffins tender; overmixing develops gluten, which can make them tough. Thorough mixing still needs to distribute the baking powder evenly so the muffins rise uniformly.
“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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