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 ↓
Breakfast Rolls
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 dough
Scald the milk at night and add the butter.
Let it cool.
Mix in the flour and salt, then beat the mixture briskly for 10 minutes.
Place the dough in a warm area to rise overnight.
Shape and bake
In the morning, roll out the dough to ½ inch thickness and cut with a cutter.
Fold the dough over (half round), wetting a little between folds to make them stick.
Place on buttered baking sheets, ensuring they do not touch each other.
Let rise for 45 minutes.
Bake for 20 minutes at 350°F (175°C).
Brush the rolls with milk to give them a glossy finish.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + flourtop 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).
Butter and flour 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
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the gluten structure that gives the rolls their body and chew.
- Yeast
- Produces gas during the long rise, leavening the dough so the rolls become light.
- Sweet milk
- Provides moisture and softness, and its sugars add gentle browning in the oven.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender crumb and richer flavor.
The step that matters
Beat the mixture briskly for 10 minutes. Vigorous beating develops gluten, which gives the dough strength to trap the gas from the yeast and keeps the rolls from turning out dense.
“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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