Copycat Starbucks Egg Bites Recipe

Equipment:

• Blender
• Stick immersion blender and large mixing bowl (optional - see notes)
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Muffin tin (see notes)
• Small saucepan (for boiling water)
• Baking sheet or oven-proof skillet (for steaming water)
• Cast iron skillet or stainless steel pan (for cooking bacon) *you’ve already thrown out your non-stick pans…right?

Mise en Place (prep):

• Gather all equipment and ingredients.
• Set your oven rack to the bottom position and place the second oven rack in the middle of the oven.
• Place your baking sheet or oven-safe skillet in the oven on the bottom rack to preheat (this will be used for steaming the water).
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Cook the bacon to your desired level of crispiness and then chop into small pieces and set aside. *Don’t you dare throw out all that delicious grease! Save it for later use!
• Begin boiling 2 cups of water in your small saucepan.
• Oil your muffin tin, use foil liners, or even better use a silicone-coated muffin tin to prevent sticking.

Instructions:

1. Evenly distribute the cooked bacon and whatever other fillings you chose, equally among the muffin cups.
2. In a blender, combine eggs, cottage cheese, sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and blend until smooth, about 20 seconds.
3. Pour the egg mixture evenly into the muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 of the way full. If you like, you can give each muffin cup a quick stir to ensure all the fillings are evenly distributed.
4. Divide your cheese and top evenly among the muffin cups.
5. Wearing oven mitts, carefully place muffin tin in preheated oven on middle rack.
6. Pull out bottom rack below your muffin tin enough to carefully pour in the 2 cups of boiling water from your small saucepan. Carefully slide the rack back in place and quickly close the oven to trap the steam. This step creates steam that will help your egg bites expand and make them extra fluffy!
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the eggs have set and puffed up and the cheese is a nice golden brown.
8. Wearing oven mitts, carefully remove muffin tin from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before gently removing the egg bites. Enjoy!
9. Any extra egg bites, after cooling completely, can be placed in an airtight container and frozen for later. Simply reheat in the microwave or oven.

Tips:

• You can’t really mess this recipe up so feel free to experiment with different fillings, spices, and cheeses.
• You can use whatever good melting cheese you prefer like swiss, gruyère, cheddar, etc.
• You can substitute the bacon for different meats, like chopped ham or breakfast sausage. Just make sure, before adding to your muffin tins, to precook and chop whatever meat you chose.
• Try experimenting with different fillings like spinach and mushrooms. We personally like broccoli and green onion!
• Any extra egg bites, after cooling completely, can be placed in an airtight container and frozen for later. Simply reheat in the microwave or oven.

Notes:

This recipe can easily be doubled or even tripled if you want to make a large batch ahead of time to freeze. Plan about one muffin cup per egg used. So, if you double the recipe (12 eggs) plan on using a muffin tin that has at least 12 muffin cups. Any larger and you’ll likely need a second muffin tin. They can be baked at the same time, if they fit in your oven; simply increase the cooking time slightly.

When making a large batch it may be easier to use a large mixing bowl and a stick immersion blender. If you don’t own one already it’s a great kitchen gadget to have on hand and is very helpful when making soups and anything else that needs to be blended in large quantities.

Alternatively, instead of oiling your muffin tin you can use foil muffin liners. However, my favorite method is to use a silicone-coated muffin tin. They are non-toxic (throw out your non-stick pans already!) work great even without oil, so your egg bites won’t stick, and there’s no muffin liners to waste!

Enjoy your delicious and fluffy Starbucks egg bites!