Breakfast in a Muffin

Breakfast in a Muffin with Sauerkraut and Duck Liver Pate

As I’ve mentioned, breakfast has become quite elaborate since we started GAPS. It’s been fun, I love making breakfast, but now that I’m getting into a groove with all the rest of our GAPS food prep, I’ve been feeling like it’s time to reign in our weekday morning meal. I was thrilled to see this post full of easy grain-free breakfast ideas over at Nourished and Nurtured and was especially keen to make the egg muffins, with some tweaks. While I love the egg muffin concept–a portable, savory, protein-dense and grain-free breakfast–I wanted something more solid than the egg muffins I’ve had in the past and I also wanted some vegetables. So, the wheels started to turn and I decided to do some experimenting this week.

On Sunday, I hosted a Demarle party. My friend Sally came over, cooked some goodies that showed off the cool features of this awesome, non-toxic silicone bakeware. She suggested cooking bacon in the oven on a Silpat and that’s just what I did on Monday morning. I cooked a bunch of sliced end pieces from our honey-cured, home-smoked bacon at 400F for 20 minutes or so. Why hadn’t I done this before? I made a pile of bacon without having to flip a single piece and clean up was so easy. Just pour the rendered fat through a fine metal sieve into a jar, let the pieces drain a bit, then serve. Leftover bacon ends made it into these egg muffins this week, as well as fried onions, roasted Brussels sprouts and sauteed chard. Totally convenient to have pre-cooked bacon on hand. If you don’t already bake your bacon, you gotta try it.

Back to the muffins. They turned out great. Tasty, filling, and they didn’t fall after baking. They stayed moist, even after being refrigerated and reheated in a toaster oven.

Savory Breakfast Muffins
Yields 12 muffins

1/2 pound bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons bacon fat, duck fat or ghee
1 large onion or 2-3 shallots, diced
1 bunch chard (4-6 leaves, with stems), chopped
2 cups almond flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
12 eggs
2 cups grated colby or cheddar cheese
2-4 cloves garlic, minced

Preheat oven to 400F. Place bacon on a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet and bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until cooked thoroughly. Remove from oven and drain (filter and the rendered bacon fat, natch). Meanwhile, melt fat over medium high heat in a large saute pan. Saute they onion until lightly browned, then add the chard stems and cook until softened. Add the chard leaves and cook until wilted. Remove from heat. Whisk the eggs together. In a large mixing bowl, mix the almond flour, salt, and pepper. Add eggs to almond flour and mix thoroughly, then add bacon, onions, chard, cheese, and garlic. Scoop 1/4 cup of mixture into 12 muffin cups. Bake for 25 minutes, or until just set in the center.

Variations:

• Replace bacon, chard, and colby with smoked salmon, spinach, and 8 ounces of cream cheese (not GAPS legal)
• Replace bacon, chard, and colby with ham, kale, and edam or cheddar
• Replace bacon, chard, and colby with pork sausage seasoned with Italian seasonings, diced roasted red bell pepper, and Monterey jack cheese or fontina

Breakfast in a Muffin