Bacon & Egg (in a) Muffin

This recipe features the best of breakfast in one package, Bacon & Egg (in a) Muffin with a hint of maple syrup and a surprise inside.

Ok, I’ll fess up right off the bat. I didn’t come up with the idea for a muffin with a soft egg inside. I wish I did, but I’m totally stealing the idea from Craftsman and Wolves in San Francisco.

A couple of months ago when a photo of the muffin popped up on my Facebook news feed I was immediately stricken with envy that I didn’t invent this genius muffin.

The original dish has the egg encased in what they call a “meat cake”. I’m not really sure what that is, so I decided to make a muffin using some of my favorite ingredients; buttermilk, corn meal and maple syrup.

These all also happen to be great breakfast ingredients. The muffins would have to be baked in a jumbo muffin pan to accommodate the egg.

Trial & Error to create the perfect Bacon & Egg (in a) Muffin:

I thought the hard part of mastering this dish would be figuring out how to bake an egg inside a muffin so that the white cooked through and the yolk remained soft.

For the first test-run of the recipe I used eggs prepared 3 different ways. I soft boiled two eggs, froze two eggs in the shell (yes, it’s possible), peeled the frozen eggs then put them into the muffin batter. I also cracked a raw egg right into the muffin batter.

From that first batch I learned that soft boiled eggs were the way to go. The raw egg cooked through and had a hard yolk. The frozen eggs didn’t cook enough and had runny whites as well as a runny yolks (runny yolks=Yum, runny whites≠Yum).

I didn’t realize that the real problem would be getting the right texture for the muffin. I started with a version of my Cast Iron Skillet Corn Bread. The muffins from the first test batch were very dense and rubbery.

I realized I’d manipulated the batter too much and probably knocked all the air bubbles formed by the baking soda out of the batter before it went into the oven. Also, I wanted a little more sweetness and moisture.

So it took three more test rounds to get the texture and flavor I wanted for the muffin. I adjusted the ratio of flour to corn meal to lighten the crumb, upped the amount of buttermilk for more moisture, made the batter a little sweeter, and used a mix of baking soda and baking powder to get more lift when the batter hit the oven.

Be Eggzacting (sorry!) when boiling the eggs!

A few notes on handling the eggs; Once the cold eggs go into the water (just an inch of water) cook them for exactly 5 minutes. I don’t often use a kitchen timer, but for these eggs I did.

As soon as the timer goes off bring the pot to the sink and fill it with cold water to stop the cooking. Let them cool for 5 minutes then put them in a bowl in the refrigerator to cool completely.

I did this step the night before. Put the unpeeled eggs in the freezer while you’re making the batter (for no more than 1/2 an hour, you don’t want to freeze them).

This way the eggs are very cold when they go into the oven and I found them easier to peel. I got perfect eggs every time using this method.

Want more muffin recipes? Bran Muffins, Blueberry Cornbread Muffins, Sourdough Blueberry Muffins, Sunflower Muffins, Zucchini Muffins, Squash & Poppyseed Muffins, Cranberry Orange Muffins, Lemon Blueberry Muffins.

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4.50 from 4 reviews

Bacon & Egg Corn Muffin

By: Eileen Gray

This recipe features the best of breakfast in one package, Bacon & Egg (in a) Muffin with a hint of maple syrup and a surprise inside.

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Bake Time20 minutes mins

Total Time50 minutes mins

6 large muffins

US CustomaryMetric

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Ingredients

• 6 large eggs (cold)

Batter

• 12 ½ oz all purpose flour (2 ½ cups, see note)
• 7 ½ oz yellow corn meal (1 ½ cups)
• 2 teaspoons table salt
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 oz granulated sugar (¼ cup)
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 12 ounces bacon (cooked crisp)
• 18 oz buttermilk (2 ¼ cups)
• 2 oz maple syrup (¼ cup)
• 4 large eggs
• 2 oz butter ( or bacon fat, melted)

Instructions

• Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a small pot. Gently place the 6 cold eggs into the pot, cover. Reduce the heat to medium and steam the eggs for exactly 5 minutes. Remove the pot from the stove and immediately fill the pot with cold water to stop the cooking. Let the eggs cool in the water for 5 minutes then place in the refrigerator to cool completely.
• When you're ready to make the muffin batter, put the eggs into the freezer while making the batter (up to 1/2 hr). Cook the bacon slices until crisp, chop into small bacon bits. Grease a 6-cup jumbo muffin tin with butter or bacon fat, then flour.
• Preheat the oven to 375 °F.

Make the batter

• Whisk together 12 ½ oz all purpose flour, 7 ½ oz yellow corn meal, 2 teaspoons table salt, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 2 oz granulated sugar, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon in a mixing bowl. Toss 12 ounces bacon bits into the dry ingredients.
• In a separate bowl combine 18 oz buttermilk, 2 oz maple syrup and 4 large eggs. Whisk melted 2 oz butter (or bacon fat) into the buttermilk mixture. Add the buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients and mix just until combined, don't over mix.
• Fill each each muffin cup ¼ way with batter. Use a spoon to create a well in the middle of each muffin. Take the soft boiled eggs out of the freezer and gently peel each egg. Place one egg, pointed end up, into each muffin tin, nestling it down into the batter.
• Spoon the batter around and over each egg, being careful not to break the egg white.
• Bake for 20 minutes just until the top of the muffin springs back when pressed.
• If you're not sure it's done pick a bit of the crust off the top to see if it's baked. Don't poke a toothpick into the muffin or you might break the egg. Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the pan.
• If a "muffin top" sticks to the top of the pan use the tip of a small knife to loosen the top. Carefully tilt the pan to one side, grasp a muffin by the top and gently shimmy it out of the pan.

Equipment

My Book

Kitchen Scale

KA Stand Mixer

Jumbo Muffin Pan

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Video

Notes

If measuring the flour by volume use the “dip & sweep” method. That is, dip the measuring cup into the flour bin, overfill it, then sweep away the excess.

You may have a little extra batter, which can be baked as muffins without the egg inside.

The muffins are best eaten while still warm from the oven. You don't want to use a knife or you might break the yolk inside the muffin.

Leftover muffins can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for a day or so. Wrap the muffin in foil and warm in the oven, being careful not to overheat and cook the yolk.

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Nutrition

Serving: 1muffin | Calories: 876kcal | Carbohydrates: 93g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 43g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 16g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 340mg | Sodium: 1697mg | Potassium: 530mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 20g | Vitamin A: 794IU | Vitamin C: 0.01mg | Calcium: 226mg | Iron: 5mg

Have you tried this recipe?Mention @eileen.bakingsense or tag #bakingsense!