Sorry, that photo isn’t better. That’s one of the little baked eggs, cut in half, oozing onto the plate.
There, is that better, at left? Cute muffin cup baked eggs and bacon.
A post from Carolyn, but Karen is the one who made this. On Christmas morning my D-I-L, Karen, made these for our breakfast. She was so thoughtful, to make something my cousin Gary could have, that was GF. My family is very considerate of his GF restrictions. I usually make a GF dessert for one or more of our family gatherings, so the hostess doesn’t have to think about it. I made two this year (desserts). For Thanksgiving it was a pumpkin dessert, Pumpkin Praline Custard, that’s been on my blog for years. Then for Christmas I made a GF poppy seed Bundt cake (recipe up soon) that was amazingly good. Light and fluffy. Gary enjoyed it, and what was left I packed up for him to put in his backpack on the plane when he flew home.
Back to this breakfast . . . Karen bought a package of Cup4Cup GF flour on amazon. It’s the best mix of GF flours I’ve tasted. After Christmas I ordered a package of it and will be trying it in coming months. Next year the goal is to make GF popovers when Gary visits. I made popovers for Christmas Day dinner (it’s become a “thing” that I make them frequently when I visit my son and his family as they all love-love them), though I didn’t make them GF. I didn’t know there was a recipe out there that worked. Popovers are so finicky with wheat flour, let alone GF mixtures, but since Christmas I’ve found more than one recipe for GF popovers. I think I’ll try them here at home first.
As an added note, I made popovers a couple of days ago when I was visiting them, and I absolutely NAILED it with the recipe and now I need to go back to tweak the recipe that’s already here on my blog and add notes. Anyway, a week or so ago I listened to a podcast on Milk Street radio, an interview with Rose Levy Beranbaum, and in it she talked extensively about various flour (all purpose) and how they differ in the amount of protein they end up with in the finished product. With her advice in mind, I bought a bag of BLEACHED Gold Medal flour, weighed the exact amount (in grams) needed for the popovers, made them like that (with eggs, milk, and in this case some melted beef fat Karen had on hand). Oh my goodness. Perfect. If you’re interested in learning more about t
he flour intelligence in this, click here to go to Rose’s page on ingredients, and scroll down to FLOUR. Until now I’ve used unbleached all purpose flour for everything, unless cake flour was called for in the recipe. I now know I need to use bleached flour for all cakes, cookies, biscuits, etc. I guess I’ll be phasing out my unbleached flour as I don’t make bread hardly at all anymore.
THE PIECRUST: Karen used this flour (picture at right) to make the GF piecrusts. Recipe below. It’s a normal crust – this special cup4cup GF flour, salt, butter, apple cider vinegar and cold water. Karen said the dough was quite easy to work with. Do note that the recipe below makes two crusts, or enough to make 24 of these little piecrust cups. She cautions you to NOT press the dough into the corners as that stretches it – when it bakes it will shrink. So, gently press and mold the dough without stretching to get into those corners.
Into the bottom of each pastry crust Karen spread about a teaspoon of whole-grain mustard. Then she added a few little cubes of the pancetta (or cooked bacon, whatever your preference). The eggs were separated and the yolk is carefully added into the cup. The egg whites are mixed up a little bit, to make them more pourable and it was added to each muffin cup, up to about 2/3 full. Don’t over-fill as they might bubble up and over (which would make a BIG mess in your oven). She sprinkled salt, pepper and paprika over the top, then added grated Cheddar cheese on the top.
The egg cups are baked for 20-25 minutes, or until the egg is set and the cheese and the crust are golden brown. Sprinkle with chopped parsley when it’s served. Every oven is different – so watch the eggs carefully that you don’t overbake them.
What’s GOOD: all of it was good. The piecrust was perfect – flaky and I’d never have known it was GF. The eggs were perfectly cooked (oozy, just the way I like them). Karen did a great job on this breakfast. She served it with a lovely tray of fresh fruit and coffee.
What’s NOT: only that there are several steps to making these – the piecrust itself, of course, and then making the filling. Karen simplified it well (using those tiny cubes of pancetta instead of having to cook bacon).
printer-friendly PDF and MasterCook file (click link to open recipe)
* Exported from MasterCook *
GF Mini Pancetta (or Bacon) and Egg Cups with Cheddar
Recipe: One online recipe and a cookbook recipe – combined
Servings: 12
Butter, for greasing
FILLING:
2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
12 slices pancetta — or bacon (diced) cooked and drained
12 small eggs
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese — or more if needed
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
GF PIE CRUST: (makes enough for a double crust)
2 1/2 cups GF flour — plus more for the board
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 sticks unsalted butter — in 1/2″ dice
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup cold water — or up to 1/2 cup
NOTES: Take care NOT to force the dough circles into the muffin pans – stretching – as this will lead to the dough shrinking while it is baking. So, gently ease dough into the pan and gently press it into the edges.
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin pan.
2. Roll dough (using half of the below recipe) to 1/4 inch thickness on a lightly floured board and cut out 12 circles approximately 5″ in diameter. Gently lift and insert dough into muffin pan, pleating sides as necessary to fit into the cups. Do not stretch the dough.
3. Place about 1/2 teaspoon of mustard into the base of each pastry shell and add the pancetta (or bacon).
4. Separate the eggs. Gently place an egg yolk into each muffin cup. Very lightly mix the egg whites so they will pour easily. Add just enough egg white into each muffin cup to fill the shell about 2/3 full. DO NOT overfill. Season to taste with pepper and paprika, and sprinkle grated cheese evenly over the tops of the pastries.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the egg is set and the cheese is golden brown. Serve warm, sprinkled with chopped parsley.
6. CRUST: Put the flour, sea salt and sugar, if using, in a food processor and pulse to combine.
7. Sprinkle the cold butter over the flour in the food processor. Pulse until the mixture looks crumbly with larger, pea-sized chunks of butter (those chunks of butter equal a flaky crust!). Drizzle the apple cider vinegar over top.
8. Turn the machine on and immediately start drizzling cold water through the feed tube. Stop the machine once the mixture starts to come together and looks shaggy. Give the dough a pinch—if it sticks together, it’s ready to go. If not, turn the machine on again and drizzle in a bit more water. You might not need all of the water—you’re looking for a shaggy dough, not a cohesive ball. Do NOT over-process the dough – it’s good to have little visible chunks of butter, which make a flakier crust.
9. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and shape it into a ball. Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces and form each into a flat disk. Wrap the disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 30 minutes or for up to 2 days. Do Ahead: The wrapped disks can be placed in zip-top freezer bags and frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before using.
10. If the dough has been in the fridge for several hours, let it sit at room temperature until slightly softened, about 10-20 minutes. Roll it out on a lightly floured piece of parchment paper. If the dough immediately starts to crack once you start rolling, it’s too cold—give it a few more minutes to warm up. If the edges crack as you roll (which they probably will, so no fear!) simply patch them as needed.
Per Serving: 252 Calories; 24g Fat (84.6% calories from fat); 9g Protein; 1g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 237mg Cholesterol; 260mg Sodium; trace Total Sugars; 1mcg Vitamin D; 102mg Calcium; 1mg Iron; 90mg Potassium; 150mg Phosphorus.
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