Breakfast Egg Muffins

Miles still makes fun of me for the letter I sent to McDonald's one summer. We used to sleep late during the summers when we weren't teaching, and it would usually be after the cut-off time for McDonald's breakfast. I wrote them a letter about how much more they could make if they extended the breakfast time for the hundreds of thousands of teachers in the state of Texas who slept late during those summer months off. I'm quite serious about my breakfast.

Then I found an answer that has saved me money and waiting in line at the local Ronald establishment, not to mention the frustration of their imposed time restriction. They can't tell me when to eat. I'm not wearing orange.

Through the freedom of online shopping I found a product on Amazon that has been nearly as essential as my rice cooker: the Hamilton Beach Breakfast Sandwich Maker.

Truly a kitchen appliance necessary for those who live beyond the walls and confinement society places those who don't conform.

I like to get everything ready before heating up the breakfast maker, like the English muffins and meat. I detest grocery shopping so when I actually go, I stock up on muffins, sausage and Canadian bacon and keep them in the freezer. It only takes about 30 seconds to defrost the muffins and bacon, and a full minute to cook the sausage.

Once I have those items ready I get out the eggs and cheese and plug in the sandwich maker.

Red is warming up and green is ready to cook.

When the green light is on, I put the bottom half of the English muffin on the cooking plate.

I tear off the corners of the cheese (because I don't like it melting over the rim of the muffin) and put that on top of the bottom half of the muffin.

Your choice of meat goes on top.  Miles prefers canadian bacon and I prefer sausage.

Then  you close the middle portion of the sandwich maker to make the surface of what cooks the egg.

I like to spray Pam on the surface to just make it a little easier the slide it off at the end of the process. Miles likes 2 eggs and I use 1. I use a toothpick to break the yolk and swirl it around so I don't scratch the surface like a fork might.

When we first started making these we would put the top muffin on immediately, but all it did was push the raw egg out the sides. Now we close the lid and wait about 90 seconds for it to get mostly cooked. I also like to add a little salt and pepper before it cooks.

Once the egg looks mostly done, put the top muffin on and close the lid for about a minute or less.

Open the lid, slide the "egg platform" out,

and lift the entire holder up. A perfectly made breakfast muffins is now sitting there, waiting to slide onto a plate with fried potatoes.

We have made this with hamburger buns, biscuits and plain ole' bread. We've used sliced ham for the meat, bacon and no meat. You don't have to add cheese and I guess you could forgo the egg. You could add a sliced tomato, spinach, mushrooms, jalepenos or anything your heart desires. This is the pursuit of liberty of cooking at home: making your food exactly the way YOU like it, not like a chow line in prison.

Obviously this is not ideal for a larger family since you can only make one at a time, but it is perfect for one person or a couple, for the price of 5 muffins at the clown place, without worrying about beating the clock, changing out of your pajamas or not getting what you order.

Try this and let me know how it turns out. Let me know what you changed and how you made it better. Your kitchen: Land of the Free.

Happy Cooking!