If you are anything like me, you were drilled as a child on the importance of a good breakfast. And now, years later, part of every morning is spent feeling guilty that you only had enough time to grab a cup of coffee on your way out the door. Today I’m going to solve that problem for you.
To speed up breakfast, we are going to do all of our prep the night before by baking the eggs. And we are going to take that concept one step further by cooking a bunch of eggs all at once, giving us breakfast for the next couple of days.
The method couldn’t be more simple: start by whisking eggs with salt and pepper, using one egg for every sandwich. Place a sheet of parchment paper in a high-sided pan, and coat generously with pan spray. Then pour in the egg mixture. Do not use foil, and do not pour the eggs directly into the pan. The goal here is to minimize cleanup. To prevent the eggs from discolouring, add a teaspoon of lemon juice.
Bake at 350F for 8-12 min until the eggs are firm. Remove from the oven, transfer to a wire rack, and set aside to cool. While the eggs are baking, slice your English muffins, lay them out on a sheet tray with parchment, then lightly spray the cut side with pan spray. Toast lightly then set aside to cool.
I consider all of this “free time” because I assume you are already in the kitchen, with the oven on, while you are waiting for dinner. So far all we’ve done is dirty one bowl, a fork, and the knife used to slice the English muffins.
Resist the urge to make this fancier than it needs to be. Baking the eggs in individual ramekins or ring molds might seem fun, but you will then have multiple ramekins to clean. You could also cook the eggs in a frying pan, especially if you prefer fried eggs, but then you have a messy pan to deal with.
You’ll notice that the title wasn’t “best breakfast sandwich ever,” or “fastest breakfast sandwich ever.” I consider this the “most convenient breakfast sandwich involving minimal time in the morning.” I fully admit that I am encouraging you to make a sub-par sandwich, and I think that’s okay. Over the next few weeks I plan to build on this concept and present recipes that speed up meal time.
The next step is to assemble the sandwiches. Simply cut the egg to fit the muffins, and add whatever other fixin’ you so desire (I used some homemade melty cheese). The last step is to wrap the sandwiches in parchment with your own personal logo (branding is important).
The advantage here is that when you nuke your sandwich for 30-40sec, only some of the steam will stay inside, melting the cheese, and warming the bread. But not enough steam to make the sandwich soggy or gross. If you don’t have a microwave, you can wrap in foil then gently warm in a toaster oven, or take the sandwich with you to work and warm it in the microwave there. I store my sandwiches in a ziplock bag, in the fridge, for up to 3 days.
