Baked Egg Sandwiches

 You know my love for breakfast sandwiches, but Alex has a love for them that borders on obsession. Alex has a bit of an addictive personality (just ask him how often he asks Rachael to go play disc golf), and his latest obsession has been the egg sandwiches from the Bagel Inn in Leominster.  He says the egg is fluffy and better than our average fried egg or scrambled egg sandwich.  As an egg sandwich lover myself, I was intrigued - and then super excited when my May Food Network Magazine had a recipe for baked egg sandwiches.  The photographs of the sandwiches showcased fluffy eggs like Alex had been raving about, and I knew I had to give it a try.  However, the rest of the recipe kind of weirded me out.  Eggs with Peppadew peppers and dijonnaise?  No thanks.  I took the recipe for eggs and worked the breakfast angle.

So, how do you make baked eggs for sandwiches?  It's pretty easy.  Whisk together eggs with heavy cream (aha! That's where the creamy fluffiness comes from) along with salt, pepper and fresh chives. This mixture gets poured into a pan, and then that pan is placed into roasted pan that has some water in it.  The eggs bake in this water bath which keeps everything moist and even. When they're set, they can be cut into squares for individual sandwiches!  It's definitely a genius way to make breakfast sandwiches for a crowd - which I happened to be doing.

You can top your sandwich however you want, and use whatever bread you prefer.  This is kind of just a sandwich blueprint.  We used English muffins, but bagels would be awesome too, and the original recipe called for brioche hamburger buns.  I topped my sandwich with cheese and called it a day, but avocado would have been great too.  If you're like the rest of my family, go for it and add bacon (just don't ask Kenzie to cook it, because she almost burned the house down), or Canadian bacon, or, hey, Peppadew peppers and mayo and dijon mustard.  I like to suggest mild-tasting toppings so that the chives in the egg can shine a bit, but if you want to douse your sandwich with Sriracha, go for it.  Just promise me that the next egg sandwich you make will be baked!  I've made them twice already.  My family and I are big fans.  Fluffy, flavorful and fast.  There's some breakfast sandwich alliteration for you to celebrate my last day of work tomorrow :)

Recipe:

baked egg sandwiches
adapted from the May 2015 issue of Food Network Magazine
serves 4

Ingredients:
8 large eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
your choice of breads (English muffins, bagels, brioche buns) and toppings (cheeses, avocado, bacon, sausage, Canadian bacon, etc.)

Instructions:

1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Whisk the eggs, cream, chives, 3/4 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper in a bowl until fluffy.  Generously coat the bottom and sides of an 8 inch square or round cake pan with olive oil; add the egg mixture.  Set in a roasting pan; add enough water to come 1/4 inch up the sides of the cake pan.  Carefully transfer to the oven.  Bake until the eggs are set, 20 minutes.

2) Meanwhile, toast your bread and prepare your toppings.  When the eggs are done, cut into 4 equal pieces.  Prepare sandwiches to your liking and enjoy!