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 ↓
Dinner or Breakfast Rolls
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a rather brisk oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
Crumble the butter into the flour and mix in the salt.
In a bowl, combine the yeast and sugar with the warm milk.
Make a well in the flour, pour in the yeast mixture, and stir in enough flour to form a thick batter.
Cover with a cloth and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour.
Once risen, mix in the whisked egg and additional warm milk to form a smooth dough.
Cover again and let rise for 30 to 45 minutes.
Shape and bake
Turn the dough onto a floured surface and divide into 24 equal portions.
Shape each portion into small round or olive-shaped rolls and make a slight incision on top.
Place the rolls on floured baking sheets, spaced an inch or two apart, and let them prove for 15 to 20 minutes.
Brush the tops with the egg yolk mixture and bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) for 10 to 15 minutes.
Cool the rolls upside down on a dish after removing from the tins.
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
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that holds the dough and rolls together as they rise and bake.
- Yeast
- Produces gas as it ferments the sugar, making the dough rise and become airy.
- Butter
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and gives the rolls richness.
- Egg
- Adds structure and richness to the dough, and the yolk wash helps the tops brown.
- Milk
- Provides moisture that hydrates the flour and helps form a soft, elastic dough.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast and adds a little sweetness and browning.
The step that matters
Letting the dough rise fully before shaping. Yeast needs time and warmth to produce enough gas for a light crumb. Rising too briefly leaves the rolls dense, while the second rise gives the shaped rolls their final lightness.
“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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