How to transform leftover bread, cake and cookies into exciting new treats (INCL. RECIPE)

We know what you're thinking. Leftover cake, cookies and bread? Is there such a thing? Yes, it happens, even to the best of us.

Whether you've baked or been gifted too much food without enough mouths to eat it or you tried a new recipe or store-bought treat that was just "meh," the extras can pile up.

Making use of those leftovers is not only thrifty and green, it can also be fun. Here are a few ideas for each type of baked good.

• Bread

To simplify things, assume we're talking about enriched breads, which typically include butter, eggs and/or sugar and are a staple of the holiday season. Common examples: brioche, challah, stollen and panettone. Pastries such as croissants are similar.

You're probably already familiar with one of the more common ways to make use of plain croissants. That would be almond croissants, in which a nut paste is spread and baked into stale or day-old pastries. It got me thinking. Could you do the same thing with the often gifted, often underwhelming panettone? Answer: Yes. My colleague Daniela Galarza took the idea and ran with it, developing a recipe for Panettone Bostock, a variation on the common French pastry for using up old bread. Hers features an any-nut frangipane you can slather onto staled panettone, croissants, brioche or even white bread and top with your choice of nuts and fruit.

Extra panettone and cake are easily transformed into a trifle, in which layers of fruit, whipped cream, custard and any add-in of your choice, really, can mask - and improve! - even the most mediocre baked goods. Could you do it with fruit cake? Sure. Add some of your favorite liqueur, or even eggnog, for some holiday glam.

If you're a pie baker, follow the lead of such experts as Dorie Greenspan and place a layer of breadcrumbs on top of the crust to prevent the dreaded soggy bottom. Dried works the best for soaking up excess liquid, so you can run your bread, ideally brioche or challah since they don't have add-ins, through the food processor and then leave them on a sheet pan to stale or place briefly in a moderate oven to dry out. Freeze and use as needed.

Staled or dried bread is a natural in a number of thrifty, satisfying dishes. French toast is a classic, though it works best with breads with a tighter rather than very open crumb (ditto the bostock). For a large-format option built for the oven, there's always bread pudding. It can be made with layers of slices, but you open up your options if you decide to go with cubed bread, which you can dry out overnight or in the oven so that it better soaks up your custard made with eggs and milk, cream or half-and-half. Croissant bread pudding is absolutely a possibility.

• Cake

Cake pops are always an option. Mix crumbled cake with your favorite homemade or canned frosting or jam and form into balls you can dip in melted chocolate. No sticks, no problem. Follow the lead of Christina Tosi of Milk Bar and make cake truffles.

Cake crumbs can be stashed in the freezer much as you would breadcrumbs. If you anticipate a glut of Easter candy creme eggs, a la Cadbury, you can emulate the brilliant Nadiya Hussain. In her book "Nadiya Bakes," she coats frozen creme eggs in a mix of buttercream and cake crumbs, followed by a coating of blitzed cookies for a sweet riff on the classic savory Scotch egg. You're welcome.

• Cookies

Much like cake, cookies take well to being layered with whipped cream, in the form of icebox cakes. Let your creativity run wild as you build a creation that can feature your choice of nuts, preserves, booze, sprinkles, curd and chocolate (shaved or ganache).

Cookies broken down in the food processor make a great foundation for a press-in pie or tart crust when mixed with butter or sugar as needed.

We're of the opinion that any season is fit for ice cream, so go ahead and fold in pieces of cookies - bonus points if you use multiple types - into a homemade batch. Ditto cake, especially if you brush it with liqueur or a flavored syrup before breaking it into bite-size pieces.

Could you use leftover gingersnaps or spiced wafers such as speculoos to make your own cookie butter? You bet.

PANETTONE BOSTOCK

MAKES: 6 to 8 servings

Active time: 20 minutes | Total time: 50 minutes

This breakfast treat is basically a tender, fluffy and delicately sweet mash-up of scones, drop biscuits and muffins. Melted butter means no need to fuss with working it into the dry ingredients - and no rolling and cutting either, great for lazier weekend mornings. The rustic baked-into-each-other appearance makes for a fun tear-and-share experience.

The berry compote is a nice addition as a condiment and also serves as something to build your scone ring around. If you want to skip it, no worries. Just stagger and drop the dough into whatever shape or pattern you want.

There's plenty of room to improvise here. We liked chopped milk chocolate, though you can substitute dark or any other add-in you enjoy (nuts, dried fruit, etc.), as long as you keep the volume about the same.

Storage Notes: The scones taste best the day they're made, but they'll keep well in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Or freeze for several months. Reheat for a few minutes in the oven at 350 degrees or on the toast setting of the toaster oven until warmed through.

Ingredients

FOR THE SYRUP

•1/4 cup (60 milliliters) water

•2 tablespoons granulated sugar

• 1/2 teaspoon orange blossom water or rose water (optional)

FOR THE FRANGIPANE

• 1 cup (100 to 120 grams) shelled, unsalted nuts, such as pistachios or almonds, preferably blanched (see NOTE)

• 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar

• 1 large egg

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea or table salt

• Two (8-inch wide, 1-inch thick) slices panettone, cut across the equator, stale or dried out (see headnote)

• Slices of fresh, dried or poached fruit or chopped nuts (optional)

• Confectioners' sugar, for serving (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Make the syrup: In a small saucepan over high heat, combine the water and sugar. Stir until the sugar dissolves, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the orange blossom water or rose water, if using. Set aside to cool.

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.

Make the frangipane: In a food processor, process the nuts and sugar until the nuts are finely ground, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl if necessary. Add the egg, butter and salt and process until smooth.

To assemble: Place the stale or lightly toasted panettone slices on the prepared baking sheet. Using a pastry brush or spoon, brush the panettone with the syrup until it is soft and moist but not completely soaked. You may have leftover syrup; reserve for another use.

Using a tablespoon or offset spatula, spread about 1/2 cup of frangipane in an even, 1/3-inch-thick layer over each soaked slice of panettone. Depending on the size of the slices, you may have some left over. Top with fruit or chopped nuts, if desired.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the frangipane is set and lightly browned along the edges. Serve warm or at room temperature, sprinkled with confectioners' sugar, if desired.

Nutrition information per serving (1/4 slice) based on 8, using half the syrup | Calories: 299; Total Fat: 15 g; Saturated Fat: 6 g; Cholesterol: 65 mg; Sodium: 191 mg; Carbohydrates: 34 g; Dietary Fiber: 2 g; Sugar: 24 g; Protein: 7 g

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