Muffingate Returns: Inspector General Now Agrees That the Muffins Didn’t Cost Taxpayers $16 a Piece

(The Blaze/AP) Remember the $16 muffin, a sign of government spending out of control? It turns out that all the criticism was half-baked. In regards to the muffin at least.

The Justice Department's office of inspector general is apologizing for erroneously concluding that a hotel charged the government $16 apiece for breakfast muffins.

The IG's assertion last month prompted widespread criticism of government spending. A swift rebuttal came from Hilton Worldwide, which manages and franchises hotels including the Capital Hilton, the location for a Justice Department conference that served the muffins.

At the time, the IG said it stood by its report that the muffins were indeed that pricey.

On Friday, the IG's office reversed itself, saying that it had received additional information concerning food and beverage costs and that the department did not pay $16 per muffin.

A Hilton spokesman has said the entire breakfast cost $16 per person, including taxes and gratuity. The Washington Post, however, notes that the revised report still described beef Wellington hors d’oeuvres at $7.32 per serving, and a $76-per-person lunch at a conference at a Hilton in San Francisco, featuring slow-cooked Berkshire pork carnitas, hearts-of-romaine salad — and coffee at $8.24 a cup.

A Hilton spokesman declined to comment to the Post Friday on the revised report.