Egg Bites

I looked around the kitchen at 7:40 a.m. and saw sleepy children in various states of undress, blearily eyeing Captain Crunch’s cheery countenance. That’s when I struck a quick bargain with my husband: I’ll drive the kids to school if you stay and help me out until 8:00 a.m. And then I awoke. My husband laughed when I told him my dream because it hearkened back to the busy mornings that were the standard in our household when our children were young. But starting your day without a healthy breakfast is no laughing matter. Protein-packed egg bites to the rescue.

Egg Bites

Egg bites are the perfect grab-and-go breakfast, mid-morning pick-me-up, or afternoon snack. With just a few main ingredients, including eggs, full-fat cottage cheese, shredded cheese, and the vegetable add-ins of your choice, making rich and creamy egg bites couldn’t be easier. After baking, they can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to three days or frozen for up to three months. I’m not sure if egg bites would have been the answer to my young family’s breakfast ennui, but they will surely make a difference to anyone on the go including a busy mother.

You can prepare egg bites in less time than it takes to read the good advice that I’m going to give you.

For best results:

• Use full-fat cottage cheese. It adds creaminess to the egg bites and prevents them from collapsing when baked.
• Blend the egg bite mixture on low. You want a creamy blend without incorporating too much air which may cause the egg bites to collapse.
• Bake the egg bites in a well-sprayed silicon muffin pan or use silicon muffin liners in your muffin pan so that they pop right out. In the event that you have difficulty extracting the egg bites from the pan, freeze them. It’s much easier to man-handle the egg bites after they’re frozen.
• Use a water bath for baking the egg bites. The water bath creates steam, which ensures the eggs bake gently and remain fluffy. 

Many thanks to Naz Deravian for this recipe for egg bites, published in the New York Times.

Assemble your ingredients. Preheat the oven to 325 F. with the oven rack in the center position. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a kettle or a pot and keep hot. Thoroughly spray your muffin pan (preferably nonstick or silicon) with cooking spray.

You can use cooked vegetables of your choice as add-ins for the egg bites. I used mushrooms, onions, and roasted red pepper.  Sauté the chopped mushrooms and onions until softened. Add the diced red pepper. Set the vegetables aside.

Place the eggs, cottage cheese, 1 cup of the shredded cheese, and the salt and pepper in a blender. Blend the mixture on low for 10 seconds, just until the mixture is smooth and frothy. 

Place the muffin pan on a sheet pan. Add a tablespoon of cooked vegetables to each muffin cup. Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables into the muffin cups, filling each not quite to the top. Top with the reserved 1/2 cup of shredded cheese. Transfer the pan to the oven and carefully pour the hot water into the sheet pan, just to cover the bottom of the muffin cups. Shut the oven door and bake for 30 minutes, until the egg bites are set.

Allow the egg bites to rest for 15 minutes before removing them from the muffin pan. If the egg bites do not release easily, you can run a knife around the edge of the muffin cup and gently lift them out. 

Egg bites will keep covered in the fridge for about 3 days and in the freezer for up to 3 months. Reheat in a microwave or a 300 F. oven until warmed through. Frozen egg bites should be thawed overnight in the refrigerator before warming.

Print Recipe

Egg bites

Breakfast, Bread and Muffins

By Naz Deravian, published in the New York Times – Serves: 10

Prep Time: 20 minutes – Cooking Time: 30 minutes – Total Time: 50 minutes

Rich and creamy egg bites are the perfect grab-and-go breakfast, mid-morning pick-me-up, or afternoon snack.

Ingredients

• 8 large eggs
• 1 cup (8 ounces) full-fat cottage cheese
• 1½ cups (6 ounces) shredded Cheddar, mozzarella or Monterey Jack (or a combination), divided (1+½)
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 1½ cups cooked chopped vegetables (optional), such as onions, mushrooms, broccoli, roasted red pepper, cauliflower, potato, sweet potato or butternut squash (or a combination)

Instructions

1

Preheat the oven to 325 F. with the oven rack in the center position. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a kettle or a pot and keep hot. Thoroughly spray your muffin pan (preferably nonstick or silicon) with cooking spray.

2

You can use cooked vegetables of your choice as add-ins for the egg bites. I used mushrooms, onions and roasted red pepper.  Sauté the chopped mushrooms and onions until softened. Add the diced red pepper. Set the vegetables aside.

3

Place the eggs, cottage cheese, 1 cup of the shredded cheese, and the salt and pepper in a blender. Blend the mixture on low for 10 seconds, just until the mixture is smooth and frothy. 

4

Place the muffin pan on a sheet pan. Add a tablespoon of cooked vegetables to each muffin cup. Give the egg mixture a stir with a spoon and pour it over the vegetables, into the muffin cups, filling each not quite to the top. Top with the reserved 1/2 cup of shredded cheese. Transfer the pan to the oven and carefully pour the reserved hot water into the sheet pan, just to cover the very bottom of the muffin cups. Shut the oven door and bake for 30 minutes, until the egg bites are set.

5

Allow the egg bites to rest for 15 minutes before removing them from the muffin pan. If the egg bites do not release easily, you can run a knife around the edge of the muffin cup and gently lift them out.

6

Egg bites will keep covered in the fridge for about 3 days and in the freezer for up to 3 months. Reheat in a microwave or a 300 F. oven until warmed through. Frozen egg bites should be thawed overnight in the refrigerator before warming.

Notes

If you are having any difficulty removing the egg bites from the muffin cups, allow them to cool completely (or even freeze them for a few hours!) before removing them.