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Home recipes Dessert

The Muffin Disaster and How I Lived To Tell About It

blueberry
Posted:2/4/14
Updated:7/22/14

I know the title is so dramatic but these muffins are full of drama.

 A few days ago I decided I was going to make some big ol blueberry muffins for some friends the next morning.   I put together a recipe, threw on my Brooklyn Nets apron and headed to the kitchen to start to put all the ingredients together.  

The batter was amazing.   When the batter reaches the point of a certain yumminess, then you know what you’re making is going to be the best ever.  I took a few tastes of the batter.  Perfect.  I was feeling pretty good about myself.
Muffin Disaster_1

 

I averaged the muffin to take 20 minutes so I pulled them out.  The muffins were gorgeous.  They were big.  The crumb worked out so good on top.   My kitchen was smelling like a bakery.  I set them aside to cool and skipped across my loft singing to myself about my perfect blueberry muffins.  I was on muffin cloud nine.
Muffin Disaster_2

It was time to pull the muffins out, so I got my light ready to shoot some pictures for the blog.   Still, extremely excited, I could not wait to show you guys these muffins. I already had the post written in my mind, I was ready to Instagram the heck out of these blueberry bad boys.

Then disaster happened.

The muffins would not come out.

I slide a knife down.  I slide a small fork down.  I slide a baby spatula down.  I cut them slightly incase the crumb was attaching them all together.  Nothing.  I panicked.  I shook my fist to the muffin gods “This is not happening to me!”.  I put the pan upside down and decided that I would just hit the bottom and then they would fall out. After all, I sprayed these babies with nonstick spray.  This was totally going to work.  It did not work.  

It happened.  The muffins were a failure.  
Muffin Disaster_4

The muffins started to come out of the pan, one berry at a time, one crumb at a time, one tear at a time.
Muffin Disaster_3

I sighed.  I cried.  I laughed.  I posted on Twitter.  I told my cats (they didn’t understand).   Then I told myself to breathe, it was going to be ok.  I thought of Olivia Pope and how she’s a fixer and at that moment I decided I was going to fix these muffins.  They would not destroy my spirits!
Muffin Disaster
(Xanadu finds staring at the wall more important than this muffin disaster).

Ok, what to do?  I have a bunch of muffin crumbs.    I could put it in a pie pan, layer it with whipped cream and berries.  But I didn’t have whipped cream or berries.  That wasn’t going to work.  Ok, Pamela, think, rule these muffins, show them who’s boss.  Fix this.  So I stood in that kitchen, eating spoonfuls of this muffin crumb mixture because honestly, it was still amazing.  Then it hit me.

Muffin Balls were born.
Muffin Disaster_6

I got all the muffin crumbs together and mashed them up with a fork so there was no big pieces.    Then I rolled them into little balls. The key to this is that your muffins need to be moist to stick together.  Thankfully these muffins were beautifully moist (*cries again*) so it worked great.   After I rolled them into little balls I put them on some wax paper.   The muffin balls tasted awesome, but they were kinda well.. a big ugly.   What makes things pretty?  Powdered sugar in frosting form.  So I made up a quick batch of vanilla glaze frosting and poured it gently over the muffin balls.    They looked magical.
Muffin Disaster_7

Muffin Disaster_9

Muffin Disaster_10

Boom Shakalaka Muffin Balls.  Boom Shakalaka. 

Muffin Disaster_8

And even better?  People loved these muffin balls, they wanted to know more about them.   “So you’re going to make muffins, destroy them, and then roll the into balls.  Yes, you heard me right, yes I totally meant to do this.  I know,  they’re really something special. ” Play it cool.     People have requested them again since that day so now these accidental Muffin Balls seem to be a staple in my recipe book. 

And what’s how I destroyed my muffins but lived to tell about it.

Now tell me about your baking accident that you fixed.  Did you have a cake fall apart?  Did you have brownies that were too wet inside?   Share your stories in the comments, I’m sure others will be inspired by your creative thinking!

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  1. Sue atkinson says

    March 13, 2021 at 12:24 pm

    That’s a great idea. Will try that. I e had a few muffin disasters and just crumbled them up on ice cream or redid the recipe Used it for toppings. Worked for me

    Reply
  2. Beth says

    February 11, 2021 at 5:27 pm

    I laughed until I cried. Was looking for muffin fixes because I just made muffins for someone else, and why is it that something always goes wrong then? Been making perfect muffins for years, sigh. Not sure if they’ll go with muffin balls bahaha.

    Reply
  3. Lisa Marie says

    January 18, 2021 at 8:26 am

    I love this story! I have confidence now if I ruin a muffin, I can always roll them into balls & drizzle a simple glaze. One can only eat so much bread pudding! As a career chef, I have a new found respect for bakers. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Pamela says

      January 18, 2021 at 8:48 am

      Glad to hear you like this Lisa, thanks for commenting. Hopefully it can help you in the future if you have any baking oooopsies! 🙂

      Reply
  4. Jennifer says

    September 16, 2019 at 1:02 am

    I so totally love you right now. I was given a big batch of blackberries. “Made” Blackberry Muffins. Ugh. Disaster. Gonna go make these balls now.

    Many hugs to you!!!

    Reply
  5. Katrina says

    October 13, 2018 at 7:52 pm

    I have just had a blue berrie muffin disaster, came out to moist. Put them in for a little longer, not much improvement. I have just mixed it all up and put it in a loaf tin. It is in the oven.
    I wish I had seen this before I did.
    The ingredients was way to expensive to put in the bin, it was a paleo recipe. I’ve obviously not measured properly, I did think the mixture was too moist, I should have followed my intuition and added a bit more dry ingredients or rolled the blueberries in flour before adding to wet mix apparently.
    Wish me well with the loaf tin:))

    Reply
  6. twinbutterfly says

    February 12, 2015 at 10:34 pm

    I literally just had the exact same experience, although mine was slightly less disastrous in that my decision to bake muffins was a selfish spur-of-the-moment one, and not in anticipation of guests arriving!

    My Muffin Crumbles are currently sitting on my bench waiting for me to decide what to do with them and after doing some online research I stumbled across your brilliant Muffin Balls idea, which I’m looking forward to trying!

    I also just HAD to mention your inspiring post in my own ‘Muffin Fail Tale’ (http://foodtouristconfessions.wordpress.com/2015/02/13/fail-muffins/)! I hope you don’t mind 🙂

    Reply
    • Pamela says

      February 12, 2015 at 11:20 pm

      So happy you found my muffin disaster, glad someone else knows the feeling! Enjoy those muffin balls!

      Reply
  7. Amy @ Elephant Eats says

    February 11, 2014 at 4:42 pm

    How did you know I’ve been craving homemade blueberry muffins in a major way? Haha, sorry yours didn’t turn out as planned, but they sure did look beautiful straight out of the oven! Out of every disaster comes a great idea..and these muffin balls look so yummy!!

    Reply
  8. Laura Dembowski says

    February 11, 2014 at 3:19 pm

    My disasters usually involve something bubbling over in the oven and subsequently burning on it. Good times indeed. These are awesome though. Muffins are always tricky to get out of tins in my opinion. I’m always greasing liberally to ensure they come out nicely, and sometimes they still don’t. BTW, those roses are gorgeous and totally made me smile in this desolate winter!

    Reply
  9. Julie @ This Gal Cooks says

    February 11, 2014 at 1:51 pm

    Ohhh I have had that problem before but I never thought to make little muffin balls with the mess. What a fantastic idea. I love it!

    Reply
  10. Chris @ The Café Sucré Farine says

    February 9, 2014 at 4:18 am

    You are so smart, girl! I would have thrown them in the trash can, for sure!

    Reply
  11. Choc Chip Uru says

    February 8, 2014 at 5:23 pm

    Oh my gosh, you are super creative to be able to turn such incredible muffins into the awesome muffin balls they became! You are one very brave baker 😀

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

    Reply
  12. [email protected] says

    February 8, 2014 at 5:19 pm

    Love this! Muffin balls with glaze drizzled on them look so much more cute and fun than regular muffins.

    Reply
  13. Lea Ann (Cooking On The Ranch) says

    February 8, 2014 at 3:53 pm

    Cats can be so insensitive at times 😉 And being the horrid baker that I am, I see no drama at all in this post … seems normal to me. :/ Anyway, great save!

    Reply
  14. Joy @ Baking-Joy says

    February 8, 2014 at 8:15 am

    What an awesome idea, love these 🙂

    Reply
  15. Samina | The Cupcake Confession says

    February 8, 2014 at 12:55 am

    Omg! Now that is one BRILLIANT idea!!!!!!! You transformed a kitchen disaster into a kitchen WINNER! I lovedddddd the idea of these muffin balls!!!!!!! Yum!!!! ^_^

    Reply
  16. Tina @ Tina's Chic Corner says

    February 7, 2014 at 2:10 pm

    “Boom Shakalaka Muffin Balls. Boom Shakalaka.” I’m sitting here cracking up! I hate it when things go wrong in the kitchen. My husband sometimes says that I should have named my blog “The Angry Baker.” Not funny. You are super creative and turned it into a happy mistake. 🙂 I love the idea. 🙂
    PS how could your kitties not understand your trials and tribulations?! Ah, the life of a cat. 😉

    Reply
  17. Amelia says

    February 7, 2014 at 1:23 pm

    This is a perfect example of what I call a fem hack! And, since you asked, here’s my most recent disaster: My son wanted a Spongebob cake for his 2nd birthday. I like to bake cake, but we also have a tradition of making Funfetti for birthdays. So, I grabbed a box from Target. Apparently, it was a cookie mix, not cake. I added some extra oil, egg and some yogurt and it made some really delicious cupcakes – that would not come out of their liners. So, I just frosted them in the liner and let the toddler – and everyone else – have at ’em like that.

    Reply
  18. Sophie says

    February 7, 2014 at 5:09 am

    Hahahahahahha,..well done you! These balls, glazed like that look just wonderful: Boom Shakalaka! 🙂 That is so right! x

    Reply
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Hi! I'm Pamela, an artist Mom who shares family recipes. My farm is a 1,000 sq ft apartment in NYC. Let's make dinner together.

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