What to do with crumbled muffins?

Question

I made some muffins that apparently didn't have enough liquid to stick together (perhaps substituting Greek yogurt for sour cream was not such a good idea, as that, butter, and an egg contributed the only liquid). So the muffins crumbled completely on leaving the greased tin. Are there any culinary uses for them, or am I stuck trying to eat the big chunks and throw the rest out? They are so crumbly that packing them to the office for breakfast like I usually do won't work.

The specific ones I made are cinnamon coffee cake flavored, but I'd be curious about the general case.

Answer 1

Since it sounds like they are basically a dried out batter at this point, I would turn to implementations that rely on those kind of food-stuffs;

• With some further baking and possibly additional brown sugar and butter or apple-sauce, I would use them for a crumble topping. If they are coffee and cinnamon an apple-cardamom cobbler would benefit nicely.
• The crumbles could be incorporated into a biscuit batter recipe
• In all likelihood, any kind of recipe that relies on a granola could probably be referenced for further ideas.
• You could also use the crumble as a stand-in for oat based no-bakes. The no-bakes might feel mealy to the tooth, so not entirely eliminating the oat might work best.

If you wanted to repurpose, you might try thinking of it as a material to be suspended. With an ingredient like well-blended coconut butter (not to be confused with coconut oil or milk or cream) you could create a base with which to make a kind of post-raw bar cookie (basically press and chill the coconut butter in a pan on top of wax/parchment paper, pulse the muffin bits with some dates or brown rice syrup, and once the butter sets press the bits/dates mixture into the top and drizzle with some ganache or whatever).

Answer 2

I would make "cake balls" out of them. Maybe make this Apple Butter Frosting, combine with the crumbles and form balls out of the combo and then freeze or refrigerate them. I think these would be best served "uncoated" so maybe a quick cream cheese icing drizzle across the tops. Serve as a dessert and enjoy.

Answer 3

I would use the crumbs to make a trifle dessert. Layer the crumbs with pudding and fruit in a glass serving container. You can use the muffin crumbs for the bottom, middle, or top layers and fill the layers in between with vanilla pudding, banana, and walnuts for a tasty combination. Top the trifle with whipped cream and more nuts or sliced fruit.

You could also make a bread pudding. Combine about 3 cups of crumbs with a cooked custard mixture (recipe below) and place the baking pan with the combination inside a second pan half-filled with water.

For the custard mixture... heat 2 cups half and half just to a boil and pour into a mixture of 1/2 cup sugar, 3 eggs and 2 egg yolks. Bake at 325 degrees F for 1 hour or until a knife inserted comes out clean.

Answer 4

Cake pops are any obvious idea, these are crumbled cake crumbs combined with frosting (for this salted caramel frosting recipe sounds gooood) and sometimes dipped in chocolate or ganache. You could also crisp them up in the oven and use them in granolas and crumble/streusel mixes. You could even use them to top other muffins and sweet baked goods or maybe topped on a sundae.

Another idea could be to actually combine them into a cake. Mix the crumbs with some vegetable oil, milk and a few tbsp of flour and a tsp of baking soda and they could recombine to form a cake. I got the idea from this 'macaron cake'.