Monday, February 26, 2007

Breakfast Muffins

Many of you asked about that recipe I referred to in my "Cooking With Kids" post. Since I don't technically have a recipe, I can't post it on my blog. But, I can give you the basics of what I did.

I will admit that one reason why I didn't include this procedure in my "Cooking With Kids" post is because the breakfast muffins turned out kinda dry. I think the crust may have been too thick. Or, maybe I needed a different recipe for the crust.


This recipe originates from a busy Sunday morning when we were visiting our friends up in South Dakota. They have 7 kids, 7 and under (and now expecting twins!) and before Church that morning, the already busy mom whipped up a delicious and filling breakfast using refrigerated biscuit dough from a can and then lined muffin tins with the dough, topping them with a blend of egg and cheese and sausage. They were very moist, tasty and lacked in nothing.

The following "recipe" is a more made-from-scratch version of that.

Breakfast Muffins

Make a biscuit dough (I chose one with cornmeal -- for more flavor.) Add your favorite herbs and seasonings to make the "crust" more flavorful. (I added basil and garlic powder.)

Next, line prepared (greased) muffin tins with dough. I used a little less than a golf-ball size amount of dough for each muffin.

Beat enough eggs to fill all muffin tins. (I used 3 large eggs for a 12 count muffin tin.) Add salt, pepper and other favorite seasonings.

Evenly pour eggs into each crust. You can also put a handful of crumbled bacon sprinkled over all the eggs. Or, chopped sausage links, crumbled hamburger or breakfast sausage.

Add grated cheese. The more the better! Sprinkle dried parsley on the top for added color.

Bake until the egg is done. I went by the biscuit recipe for this and found that once the crust was done, the eggs were firm shortly after. It took about 10-15 minutes.

If anyone tries this recipe and comes up with a better version in helping the muffins stay moist in the middle, I'd be glad to know your trick. :) I know that using the cans of refrigerated biscuit dough would help keep them moist but I hardly ever have those on hand. So, I tend to stick with more "scratch" recipes.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, Courtney, I'll just share a few thoughts regarding your breakfast muffinns.

I think that canned dough likely has more shortening or other forms of fat in it than you would put in your "from scratch " biscuits.

I have seen similar breakfast treats made with a slice of bread instead of biscuit dough. I think I would put the bread in the muffin tin and toast it a few minutes so the eggs don't entirely soak in.

In a very old book I have a Betty Crocker recipe for "Ham & Egg cups:
1 1/2 cups Bisquick baking mix
1/4 cup plus 2Tbs. cold water
1 tsp. minced onion
1 package of thinly sliced cooked ham
6 eggs
pepper
parsley flakes

Mix first 3 ingredients into a soft dough. Press dough into muffin cups. Line each cup with 2 slices of ham. Break one egg into each cup and sprinle on other ingredients.

Bake on low rack in preheated oven (400 F.) for 15 to 18 minutes.

Here is a recipe for a homemade biscuit mix. It can be made ahead of time and kept in a tight container or frozen - adding the liquids when ready to prepare some recipe.

5 lbs. flour (17 1/2 cups)
2 1/2 cups dry milk powder
3/4 cup baking powder
3 TBS. salt
2 TBS. cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar
2 lbs. veg. shortening

Mix these ingredients with a pastry blender until it is a course crumb mixture.

Store in a tight container. For longest freshness freeze.

For pancakes:
3 cups mix
1 egg
1 1/2 cups water more if you like thin pancakes

For biscuits:
3 cups mix
3/4 cup water

You may also use the mix in other Bisquick recipes.

Happy eating. A. Jean (a few thoughts turned into a lengthy epistle.)

Kristi said...

I like the scratch recipes myself. Bruce says he likes the hand squashed biscuits and not the whomp 'em on the counter ones. LOL BUT ANYWAY, I think I'll try these tomorrow morning. It looks really easy and I'm sure my kids would love them.

~Kristi

The Mom said...

Thanks for the tips Aunt Jean! Yes, you are right... shortening does play a role in making biscuits softer. I never use shortening so maybe that's what's "wrong" with my biscuits. Thanks for the recipes. I want to try those sometime. I like the toast/bread idea too. Definitely would cut on the prep time since you wouldn't have to mix up a dough.

And Kristi... I hope your kids enjoy them! Yours are old enough that they'd probably enjoy helping make them too and it wouldn't be too big of a mess like it is at my kids ages. :) Thanks for the comment!

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for the recipe--I love meals that are "ideas" more than an exact recipe because you can make them your own!