Baked Egg Cups

After being diagnosed last year as pre-diabetic, I have been trying to find ways to cut carbs. One thing I found in the freezer section that I liked were breakfast sandwiches where the bread was substituted with "egg patties" with a slice of cheese and a turkey sausage patty in the middle, which I actually thought weren't too bad. (I mean, it's still microwaved egg, but I didn't really miss the bread).

Then I also tried the egg frittatas/egg cups from the freezer section and got thinking that I could probably make some at home for far less money and a bit simpler than the breakfast sandwich option! One of my friends makes her own egg cups, so I got pointers from her and gave it a shot. And they turned out GREAT!

Mine are super simple (egg, cheese, bacon, salt and pepper) but she does hers more fancy. I'll give her recipe at the end.

Marsha's Bacon Egg and Cheese Cups

18 eggs
8 oz grated sharp cheddar
2.1 oz box fully cooked bacon, chopped
salt and pepper

Using a hand mixer, blend all ingredients together. Distribute evenly between 12 greased muffin cups (or for easier cleanup, use silicone baking cups). Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until they reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees. Allow to cool slightly, then run a knife around the edge of each cup to loosen before removing from pan. Store in fridge in an airtight container for up to a week.

Tips:
You can totally change up anything and everything that you put in your cups. For simplicity's sake, I used the precooked bacon. Also, when preparing, you can fill your muffin cups right up to the very top with egg mixture. They will puff up A LOT, but mine didn't spill over or make a mess in the oven. Just to be safe, I did put a cookie sheet under my pan to catch any mess, but there wasn't any.

It can be hard to get the cheese and bacon evenly distributed between the cups if you add it to the egg mixture all at once and then pour into the cups, so the next time I make these, I think I will fill each up about 1/3-1/2 full of beaten eggs only, then sprinkle my cheese and bacon in each cup individually, and then top off with the rest of the egg mixture.

My friend only uses 12 eggs and gets 24 cups because she lines each tin with a round piece of ham lunch meat (sort of like a cupcake liner), then puts crumbled sausage, spinach, cheese and all kinds of veggies in each cup before topping off with eggs. She also recommended storing the cups on a piece of paper towel to soak up any moisture that they release when cooled and she added just a touch of milk to the egg mixture.

Update: I did try the silicone liners, and the muffins popped out super easy, but any egg that dripped between the liner and the tin was still a bit of a pain to clean up, so I'm not sure it was worth it. Maybe if you have a baking pan that is ENTIRELY made of silicone, that would be the best bet. Also, the liners took up enough additional space in each cup that I could only fit about 14 eggs and 2/3 of the toppings listed here. I also found that it didn't make a lot of difference to put some egg in the bottom, then toppings, then more egg... I think it's just as well to put all the topping in the cups first, then all the egg on top. If I try it and remember, I'll report back.