Why it works: Buckwheat and flour work together. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 660 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Buckwheat and Oat 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.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Mix the dry ingredients: buckwheat flour, baking powder, ground rolled oats, and salt.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs well, then add the milk, fat, and syrup.
Combine the wet and dry ingredients until just mixed.
Pour the batter into a greased muffin tin and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
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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Buckwheat + flourtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together660 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Buckwheat + oatstop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together33 recipes
Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Milk + buckwheattop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together328 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, creamy).
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Milk + oatstop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,119 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
Swap the buckwheat
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, flour, syrup, oats):
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Buckwheatthe original
- Nutmegfits less well
- Gingerfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, flour, syrup, oats. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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