Calling creative cooks! Need ideas for using up baking mistake: too-squashy muffins

OK, so here’s the deal: A friend of mine (no, really, honestly, A FRIEND) was trying a recipe for butternut squash muffins. She complained on Facebook that they seemed “too squashy.” I of course had to reply “Mmmm butternut squash” as did some other people. Eventually she realized that she had misread the recipe and used something like a cup and a half of cooked squash instead of half a cup. Oops. So, squashy muffins.

She just wanted to throw them out, but since I was seeing her in a day or two, I told her I’d take them. So I took them and chucked them in the freezer when I got home.

I swear I had some brilliant idea about what I was going to do with them. I think it was something about chucking them into some sort of wintery casserole, maybe with some ham and green beans. They’d be like a sort of stuffing, maybe crumbled on top? There are about 20 smallish muffins. I haven’t thawed any to check the texture/taste.

Creative cooks: any ideas?

A stuffing or a bread pudding was the first thing I thought of as well.

You could also maybe (depending on their size/texture) slice them in halves, grill them sliced-side down on a skillet, and then use them as the english muffin part of an eggs benedict-type dish, or biscuits and gravy (if that’s how you roll), or even flatten them out a bit, dredge them in egg, and make them into a kind of french toast!

Baking mistake. Baking mistake.

hm… “mistake…”

I’m sorry, that just doesn’t make any sense. So long as they don’t qualify as hockey pucks, there is no such thing as a baking mistake. And even then, if you need hockey pucks, you’re good.

Heat them up, put a dollop of butter on them and eat them with a spoon with your morning coffee.

Are they sweet or savory?

Stuffed peppers or portabella mushrooms – brown some sausage or ground beef along with onions and garlic, drain, mix in some crumbled muffins. Stuff peppers or mushrooms, top with marinara sauce, and bake.

Dressing for pork chops or chicken – cook down some onions, garlic, and celery. Mix in some crumbled muffins. Moisten it with some chicken broth. Put the dressing in a casserole dish, top with pork chops or chicken pieces, and bake.

I thought you were talking about squishy muffins–you know, overly soft ones.

I’m not sure what I’d do with overly squashy muffins–probably add lots of butter and serve as a veggie dish rather than muffins.

Oh… I read it as both: too much squash, and too much squish.

Which is it?

In a basic muffin recipe, I think too much squash would lead to too much squish. Adding three times the amount of squash would make a very liquidy batter.

Ah. Well, then, my solution stands: instant bread pudding.

So long as they’re not savory, that would be my vote, second only to slicing them and using them like lady fingers in some kind of tiramisu-like dessert.

If they’re savory, my first idea would be to use them in place of bread in a sausage, egg, and cheese strada.

Good ideas all. Looks like my next step is to thaw them and see what I’ve got.