Why it works: Sugar and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓
Oatmeal 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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, combine the oatmeal and boiling water; let it sit until cool.
Make the batter
In another bowl, mix the brown sugar, flour, baking soda, and lard until well combined.
Add the cooled oatmeal mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
Spoon the batter into a greased muffin tin.
Bake
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
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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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Oatmeal
- Soaked in boiling water, it softens and adds moisture and a tender, hearty crumb.
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the muffins together as they bake.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the muffins brown.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the batter to produce gas that helps the muffins rise.
- Lard
- Adds fat, which tenderizes the crumb and contributes to a moist texture.
The step that matters
Stir the batter until just combined. Once flour meets liquid, gluten begins to form; overmixing makes the muffins tough and dense, so stop stirring as soon as no dry streaks remain.
“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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