Ginger Cookie Crumb Muffin

This is probably the last muffin my wife will make from left-over cookies; Because she has used them all up. This time it was using thin ginger snaps. As before, she made crumbs from the ginger cookie and used it as part of the batter. She added finely chopped candied ginger and pecan for good measure. The first time I tasted it, I did not taste strong ginger flavor but the next morning when we had it for breakfast, I tasted much more ginger flavor. A good amount of the pecan also did a good job in adding a nutty flavor. Very nice muffn.

This was not quite following the recipe but she  made it very similar to the “Cookie and cream crumb muffin”. I will ask her to take over.

Ingredients: (makes 12 muffins)

For the muffins:
2 cups AP flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup melted butter
1/4 cup sour cream
2 eggs
3/4 cup roughly crushed ginger cookies
1/2 cup finely cut candied ginger (or to taste)
1 cup toasted pecans (roughly chopped)

For the crumb:
1/2 cup butter room temp.
1 tbs. honey
1/4 cup regular sugar
2/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup of crushed ginger cookies.

Directions:
For the muffins: put the cookies in a plastic sandwich bag and using a meat pounder crush them into large pieces. (Otherwise the CuisineArt chopper has a hard time handling whole cookies. We found it’s attempt to do so is quite pyrotechnic.) Add the pieces to a cuisineArt grinder and process until the cookies are small crumb as shown in the picture below. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and line a 12 -cup muffin pan with liners of choice. Set aside.
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, vanilla extract, egg, melted butter, and sour cream until combined. 
Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture. Add in the crushed cookies and pecans and stir the whole mixture together with a spatula until there are no dry pockets.

For the topping : 
In a medium bowl, using your hands mix the butter honey, brown sugar, sugar, flour, salt and additional crushed cookies until the mixture is creamy and smooth. 
Evenly and generously cover each tin of muffin batter with the topping. Bake muffins for 18-20 minutes, or until just golden. A cake tester should come out clean. These muffins were very flavorful although it took several days for the ginger flavor to fully mature.

The topping was crunchy and the muffin itself was tender in texture with a bright ginger flavor. The pecans added a nice nutty texture and taste. Another great breakfast addition.