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Rye Muffins

A yeast-based rye muffin made with flour, water, molasses, butter, eggs, milk, and baking soda.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Rye Muffins

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 ↓

Rye 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.

Prepare the batter

  1. Scald 1 cup of all-purpose flour with 1 cup of boiling water.

  2. In a large bowl, combine 3 cups of warm water, 1 cup of molasses, 2 cups of rye flour, and 1 cup of yeast to form a stiff batter, adding more flour if necessary.

  3. Mix 1 cup of dough with 4 eggs and 1 1/2 pints of milk to create a stiff batter.

  4. Add 3 tablespoons of melted butter, 1/4 teaspoon of coarse sea salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar.

  5. Mix in 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda just before baking.

  6. Let the dough sit for 1 hour before baking.

Bake

  1. Bake in muffin rings at 350°F (175°C) until golden.

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.

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.

  1. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Flour + ryetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,320 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Rye + milktop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together918 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

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

Rye flour
Provides the characteristic earthy flavor and a denser, moister crumb than wheat flour alone.
Eggs
Add structure and richness, helping the muffins set and hold their shape while baking.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, dark color and moisture, and contributes to browning.
Yeast
Ferments the batter, producing gas that lifts and aerates the muffins.
Milk
Adds moisture and richness, and helps give the crumb a tender texture.
Baking soda
Reacts to lift the batter and promote a lighter rise when added just before baking.

The step that matters

Mixing in the baking soda just before baking. Baking soda starts releasing gas as soon as it is mixed into a batter, so waiting until just before baking keeps that lift for the oven rather than losing it while the dough rests.

“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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