Name: Cork Meal and Rolled Oats Muffins
Ingredients: 1 cup rolled oats; 1 cup white cornmeal; 3 teaspoons baking powder; ½ cup milk; 1 tablespoon shortening; 2 tablespoons sugar; 1 egg, well beaten; ¼ teaspoon salt

Why it works: Oats and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,119 recipes. Both carry 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine, which smells cocoa, roasted. The science ↓

Cork Meal and Rolled Oats Muffins

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the batter

Mix the dry ingredients together.
Add the milk, beaten egg, and melted shortening.
Pour the mixture into muffin pans.

Bake

Bake for 30 minutes at 350°F (175°C).

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Oats + milktop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,119 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together88,785 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together77,875 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Oats + sugartop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,548 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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

Rolled oats: Provide chewy body and a hearty structure to the muffin crumb.
White cornmeal: Adds a coarse, slightly crumbly texture and structure.
Baking powder: Releases gas in the batter so the muffins rise and become light.
Egg: Binds the batter and helps set the muffin structure as it bakes.
Milk: Adds moisture and hydrates the oats and cornmeal.
Shortening: Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and carries flavor.

“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.