February 2026
Recipe from Cook's Illustrated, January 2026
I was not familiar with egg bites until reading about this recipe. Apparently they are a popular and widespread breakfast item that you can get in coffee shops or buy frozen in supermarkets and big box stores. Diane usually has eggs for her brunch so it seemed a natural item to try as it could make for a convenient meal for her.
Bacon was chopped, cooked until crisp, and transferred to a paper towel-lined plate. Next, cottage cheese was processed in a blender. Our blender did not do a particularly good job with the thick cheese. I had to stir it some so it would blend and I added an egg sooner than specified in the recipe to provide some added liquid. The creamy mixture was poured into a large bowl and 11 eggs and salt were added then whisked until well combined. Gruyère, which had been grated on the large holes of a box grater, and the bacon were distributed among 12 muffin cups that had been sprayed with vegetable oil. The egg mixture was added and stirred with chopsticks. The muffin tin was placed on a rimmed baking sheet in a 325° oven and the baking sheet was filled with boiling water. The eggs were baked to an internal temperature of 170°. Total preparation time was about 70 minutes.
The egg bites were good and worth making again. They kept reasonably well in the refrigerator for brunches and other breakfast-for-dinner meals; a short re-heating in the microwave was all that was needed to serve them. While good they were a little bland. The cheese flavor was subtle and they would have benefitted from some chives or scallions. Indeed, the recipe includes a long list of other foods–cheeses, meats, vegetables, herbs–that could be added to the egg bites depending on what you might have on hand. The bacon tended to sink to the bottom so perhaps some more vigorous stirring was needed.
