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 ↓
Graham 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.
Make the batter
Sift together the Graham flour, white flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.
Gradually add the milk, beaten egg, and melted butter. Beat the mixture thoroughly.
Bake
Pour into buttered mug cups and bake at 400°F (200°C) for 25 minutes.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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).
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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
- Graham flour
- Gives the muffins a coarser, nutty texture and wholesome body.
- White flour
- Provides gluten structure so the muffins hold their shape while baking.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and adds structure as it sets in the oven.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the muffins rise during baking.
- Sugar or molasses
- Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown in the oven.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and richness in the crumb.
The step that matters
Beat the mixture thoroughly. Thorough mixing develops gluten in the white flour for structure, but over-mixing can make muffins tough, so the batter should be combined fully without excess beating once the wet and dry ingredients meet.
“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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