Egg Muffins Reinvented

Last month I started making a batch of egg muffins each week so hubs would have an easy quick breakfast ready to go in the morning before work. The first batch came out of the ramekins no problem. The second week, they really stuck. So I left the muffins in the ramekins and stored them in the fridge that way, covered in plastic wrap of course. One day last week I had a light bulb go off over my head -- what if you could eat the container the eggs were baked in?

Egg Muffins Reinvented!

Instead of putting the peppers in the egg, put the egg in the pepper!

Here's what you'll need:

12 eggs
8 ounces button mushrooms
5 large yellow, orange or red peppers
a couple sprigs of thyme

a few sage leaves, minced
1 teaspoon olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

And here are the steps: 

Step 1
Roast the mushrooms
- Preheat the oven to 450* F.
- Clean and cut up the mushrooms. We quartered the small and medium ones and cut the larger ones into sixths.
- Toss the mushrooms with 1 teaspoon olive oil and the leaves of a couple sprigs of thyme and then season with salt and pepper.
- Spread the mushroom mixture on a baking sheet. Roast 10 minutes, stir and then roast another 10-15 minutes or until the mushrooms are browned. Set aside to cool (and try not to eat them all!).
Step 2
Prep the peppers
- Cut the tops off and carefully remove the seeds and inner membranes.
- Find good baking dishes to use so the peppers will stay upright. Our ramekins were just the right size:

Step 3
Prep the eggs
- Preheat the oven to 375* F.
- Beat 12 eggs thoroughly (I like to do this in a 4-cup liquid measuring cup as that way they we are ready to pour the eggs into peppers.) Season with salt and pepper.

Step 4
Assemble and bake

One of our peppers had a bad spot so
the fifth muffin baked in a ramekin.

- Arrange the ramekins with peppers inside on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Pour 4-5 ounces of the eggs into each of the peppers, dividing the liquid about evenly between them. They won't come out completely evenly since each pepper will be shaped a little differently. The goal is not to overfill the peppers - eggs expand as they bake and you don't want them to overflow as they bake.
- Sprinkle one-fifth of the mushrooms and herbs onto the eggs.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes or until fully set.

We'll be making these again, I think, especially once our pepper plants in the garden start producing!