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Dessert

Bran Muffins

A quick muffin made with bran, flour, buttermilk, baking soda, molasses, and optional raisins.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Bran Muffins

Why it works: Flour and raisin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Bran Muffins

1 dozen muffins
Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

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 batter

  1. Sift together the bran, flour, and salt.

  2. Dissolve the baking soda in the buttermilk and add it along with the molasses to the dry ingredients.

  3. Pour the mixture into greased muffin rings.

Bake

  1. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until done.

  2. This recipe makes 1 dozen muffins.

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. Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Flour + buttermilktop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,721 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Buttermilk + molassestop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together526 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Molasses + raisintop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,577 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,429 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Bran
Adds bulk and fibre, giving the muffins their hearty, coarse texture.
White flour
Provides structure so the muffins hold their shape while baking.
Buttermilk or sour milk
Its acidity reacts with the baking soda so the muffins rise and stay tender.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic buttermilk to release gas, leavening the batter.
Molasses
Adds moisture, sweetness, and a deep flavour and darker colour.

The step that matters

Dissolving the baking soda in the buttermilk. Baking soda needs an acid to activate. Dissolving it fully in the buttermilk spreads it evenly, so the muffins rise uniformly. Mixing it too late or unevenly can leave pockets of bitter soda or uneven rising.

“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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