Animal, Nature, and Travel: Taste-bud Journey: Bacon Broccoli Egg Bites

During the pandemic, I am taking taste-bud journeys as I self-isolate rather than physical journeys. Here is my adapted recipe for some Bacon Broccoli Egg Bites. It was inspired by some online tutorials on how to use the DASH Egg Bites Maker found on Amazon, Google, and YouTube. It also includes some experimentation on my part.

I bought my DASH Egg Bites Maker from Target for $19.99 (January 2021). Other companies sell it, as well. The prices currently range from $19.99 to $29.99:

My Target Egg Bites Maker came with the 4 miniature egg bites rings, a recipe book, and the maker itself.
Amazon is currently selling theirs for $10 more. That one comes with one large ring plus the four miniature rings.
Although I was disappointed to not get the large ring, I wasn't willing to pay an additional $10 just to acquire it.
The Egg Bites Maker makes it possible to create Egg Bites similar to those that sell at Starbucks. Although I have never tried those, I really loved the taste of the ones I made at home.
The following recipe is only my first attempt.

Recipe inspired but altered from DASH recipe booklet. Recipe makes 12 to 14 Egg Bites.

2 large beaten eggs or 1/2 cup of Egg Beaters
5 heaping tablespoons of small curd cottage cheese.
1/4 cup Colby Jack shredded cheese (or cheese of your choice)
2 tbsp of cooked bacon crumbles
About 4 to 5 broccoli florets
1/4 tsp of sea salt
pinch of pepper [optional]
1/2 tsp of Xanthan Gum (a binding agent) [optional]

Please note: After making my first batch of four Egg Bites, I decided to add Xanthan Gum to help hold the batter together even more.

Please also note: The beauty of this miniature grill is that other than the eggs and cottage cheese and whatever type cheese is your preference, you can add whatever meat and veggies that you personally find to be most appealing. You could also make this using egg whites instead of whole eggs.

Procedure

Step 1: Using a chopper, chop up the broccoli florets and shredded cheese until each piece is the size of a pea or smaller. Stir those together with the bacon crumbles. Set aside.

Step 2: In a large measuring cup, stir together the eggs, small curd cottage cheese, sea salt, pepper (optional), and Xanthan Gum.

Step 3: In the DASH Egg Bites Maker, pour in water in the base of the cooker and use cooking spray on the four silicone egg cups to help prevent sticking. Plug the cooker in and allow it to preheat for 2 to 3 minutes.

Step 4: In each egg cup, put in your meat, cheese, and veggie mix. Only fill it 1/3 of the way. I filled it to the halfway point - but I think that was too much.

Step 5: Next, spoon in your egg and cottage cheese mixture. I overfilled the cups. I have now learned that you should only fill the cups 2/3 full as the eggs will expand while cooking.

Step 6: Close the lid and cook the egg bites for 12 minutes. The recipe book states you only need to cook them 7 to 10 minutes; however, I didn't find them to be done enough using that shorter time.

Step 7: Lift out the egg cups and turn them over to release the egg bites onto your plate. You might need to lightly pinch the cups to get the egg bites to release.

Step 8: Continue making each batch until you have used up your entire recipe. Eat as many as you desire and refrigerate the rest. I found that it only took 20 seconds to microwave the leftovers. They tasted just as good as leftovers as they did fresh from the maker.

Please note: This is what happens when you overfill the cups. Fortunately, the residue peeled right off. Lesson learned for my next attempt using this mini grill.

Cooking Sites that have inspired me:

Books written by Debbie Dunn:

Here is the Amazon Link to all anti-bullying curriculum books plus all children’s books written by Debbie Dunn (both paperback and Kindle). It will open up in a new window.