Baked Eggs in a Basket

Growing up, Kip ate these all the time. (I, on the other hand, had never had or heard of them until we were married.) His mom would cut a circle into a slice of bread, put it on a skillet, crack an egg in, and voila. It's a great quick, cheap, fun meal. However, until this week, I felt somewhat limited by the skillet method. It was perfect for a lunch for one, but you could only do a couple at a time and by the time you had enough for a family the first ones were cold and kind of rubbery.

And then I saw a recipe in Everyday Food where a kid was making these on a cookie sheet in the oven. And my brain said, "Aha" or "Well duh" or "Why the heck did I not think of this sooner?" 

You'll be happy to know (you are happy, aren't you?), that I did have an original creative moment of my own. As I set out to make the circles, I thought, "But why circles? I bet I could use cookie cutters and make all kinds of fun shapes." And I did. And it was fun. 

Though I must warn you that the shapes look a little clearer when these are raw than when they come out of the oven with the whites set. 

If you wish to have the shapes extra clear, take care not to spill whites outside of the edges. Which could be a little tricky. I was sloppy, so when I served them to my kids, I flipped them over the the side without the white eggy part on it and that way they could appreciate the fact that their mother had cut stars and hearts into their dinners. 

Add this to your list of perfect post-shopping meals for November/December. It takes 15-20 minutes and you can use whatever fun or holiday festive cookie cutter shapes you've got around. You can also top it with whatever sounds good to you: cheese, chives, parsley, tomatoes, salsa, avocado, etc. 

Baked Eggs in a Basket

adapted from Everyday Food

makes 6

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 9 minutes

Cost: $.90

bread: .15, eggs: .60, butter: .15

2 Tbsp butter

6 slices bread

6 eggs

salt and pepper

any other toppings you like (we did some with cheese--yum)

Preheat oven to 375. While it's heating, cut out your bread. You can use circles made from a glass or biscuit cutter, or you can go nuts and use cookie cutters. After that the sky's the limit. 

Butter your pan (seriously, do this or your eggs will stick like crazy and you will be sad). Butter your bread on both sides. Arrange slices (and the cut outs--they'll make a crunchy, almost crouton-like toast that my kids LOVED) on your pan. 

Crack one egg into each hole. 

Bake for 8-9 minutes or until the yolks are just barely runny or just barely set (whichever you prefer). Beware that they still look raw-ish when they are cooked, so you might want to stick a fork in to check for doneness. 

PRINTABLE RECIPE