Why it works: Rye and wheat match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 404 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
187 Rye Muffins
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Mix the batter
In a mixing bowl, combine the rye meal.
In a sieve, mix the wheat flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar, then sift it over the rye meal.
Beat the eggs until light, then add the milk and pour this mixture onto the dry ingredients. Beat well until combined.
Bake
Butter muffin tins and bake for 20 minutes at 400°F (200°C).
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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Rye + wheattop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together404 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Wheat + milktop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,418 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Rye + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,320 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Wheat + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,373 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rye meal
- Gives an earthy flavour and a denser crumb, since rye has little gluten.
- Wheat flour
- Provides gluten for structure, lightening the rye's denser crumb.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, and help bind the batter together.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and hydrates the flours to form a batter.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the batter to produce gas that makes the muffins rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the batter so baking soda can react and release carbon dioxide.
The step that matters
Combining the wet and dry ingredients. Mix only until the batter is combined, since overbeating develops gluten and toughens muffins. The leavening reaction starts once liquid meets the baking soda and cream of tartar, so bake promptly.
“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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