Theres nothing wrong with a muffin, but having a whole crumb cake is better for everyone.
First and foremost, you must create the perfect crumb layer.
Crisp, but not hard.
Soft, but not mushy.
I blended in brown sugar and cinnamon, then added melted butter to the smaller bowl.
After some stirring and pressing, the crumb mixture became well-moistened with butter.
(It should be clumpy, but not sodden with butter.)
The directions on a typical boxed muffin mix includes the addition of water, oil, and eggs.
The batter will be thick, and the resulting quick bread sturdy and slightly dry.
Luckily, this made my life easy.
The box asks for a 1/2 cup of both water and oil.
This would keep the cake spongy, but lighten it up.
Mix the water, oil, and eggs into the box mix until smooth.
Pour it into a buttered, parchment-lined cake pan, or casserole dish.
The batter should be flowing, but not watery.
Bake in a 350F oven for 45 minutes, or until the center springs back when gently pressed.
Dust with a load of powdered sugar and serve.
Butter a 9-inch cake pan and fit a parchment paper circle into the bottom of the pan.
Pour the entire box of muffin dry mixture into a large bowl.
Scoop out one cup of the dry mixture and place it into a smaller bowl for the crumble.
Blend the brown sugar and cinnamon with the small amount of muffin mix.
Pour in the melted butter.
Stir and press it all together until well-combined and clumpy.
Prepare the cake batter in the large bowl with the remaining boxed muffin dry mixture.
Add the water, oil, and 2 eggs.
Mix together until well combined.
Pour the batter into the cake pan and smooth it out.
Use your fingers to break apart the crumble while you sprinkle it over the surface of the batter.
Make the layer of crumb bits as even as possible.
No need to press the crumbs into the surface.
Bake at 350F for 45 minutes, or until the center springs back when gently pressed.
Cool completely before flipping it out of the pan.
