Cheese, Ham & Egg Breakfast Muffins

I saw a great recipe on Entertaining with Beth. It was a wonderful savoury recipe. Eggs, cheese and ham, as well as bread were the mainstay of the recipe.

The great thing is that these can be make-ahead muffins. Which means that they are quick, when time is tight, for breakfast. They come out of the fridge and into a heated oven to provide a no morning effort for great breakfast.

Beth suggested her recipe would be great for Christmas Breakfast. But, though I agree with that, I think these would be perfect at any time. For her version Beth used ramekins. Though I have ramekins I actually decided that these would be perfect in a jumbo muffin pan. Indeed, that turned out to be true. But they can also be made in a normal muffin pan too. That would provide smaller, but more, muffins.

These muffins, if I can call them that, are simply perfect for breakfast, or lunch. Eggs, cheese and bread, I suggest, are the required elements in the recipe. But after those the choice of additions is endless. Ham, bell peppers, olives, bacon, herbs, drained sun-dried tomatoes are all great suggestions.

My thick cut ham made the perfect addition for these muffins. The jumbo muffin size was also great for a filling breakfast.

My Bake.

I baked them for 35 minutes in the oven. After 25 minutes, or so, I covered the top with foil. That prevented too much browning on the top of the muffins. Although I ate one warm, or hot, for my taste test, they are good cold too as a lunch. As a muffin lunch green salad with tomatoes added makes a great meal.

You can also easily reheat the muffins, if you have any left.

Cheese, Ham & Egg Breakfast Muffins

Recipe by geoffcooCourse: Muffins, BreakfastCuisine: SavouryDifficulty: Easy

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

35

minutes

Ingredients

• 300g (3 1/2 oz) day old bread(or stale bread) cut into 1 inch cubes

• 110g(1 1/4 cups) chopped leeks

• 6 medium eggs(large in USA)

• 500ml(2 cups) double cream

• 75g(about 1 cup loosely filled) grated cheese( used Emmental)

• 12g(3 tbps) finely chopped chives

• 150g(1 cup) chopped ham

• salt and pepper to taste
  

• 15ml(1tbsp) flavourless oil

Directions

• Place the bread on a baking tray, spread out.
• Gently fry the leeks in the oil until softened and beginning to brown.
• Drain the leeks and set aside.
• Bake the bread cubes in the oven for about 10 minutes, until they have dried out and started to colour.
• In a large bowl mix the eggs and cream together.
• Season to your preference with salt and pepper.
• Add in the leeks and chives and mix until distributed throughout.
• Then add in the cheese and the ham and mix through again.
• Add the bread and stir everything together until the bread is all coated.
• Spoon the mixture into a greased jumbo muffin pan, ensuring an equal amount of liquid is in each cup.
• Mound the bread to form a sort of dome.
• Chill the filled jumbo muffin pan in the fridge, for at least an hour(overnight is good too).
• Preheat the oven to 190C/170C Fan/375F.
• Bake the muffins for 35 minutes, but after about 25 minutes be prepared to cover them with foil to prevent excess browning.
• Test the muffins to ensure that the egg mixture is cooked to your preference.
• Remove the muffins from the oven and leave in the pan for a few minutes then, using a thin knife, or a small offset spatula, transfer them to a rack or plate to cool/

Another great breakfast recipe, and a sweeter one, is Breakfast Bars – Oats, Nuts & Fruit.