All-American Breakfast Nests

Breakfast has always been my favourite meal of the day.  Before kids, I LOVED going out for breakfast.  For us, it was part of a leisurely weekend, sleep in, go for breakfast, head to the market or wherever the day took us.  Now that we have kids...going out for that lovely, leisurely breakfast is  faded memory.  That's OK though, we have those wonderful memories and are busy making new ones with our brood!

Because I like breakfast, and I get tired of the waffles/pancakes/French toast routine (love them all, but this girl needs a break!) - I was thinking about the Baked Egg Cups that I've made previously, but this time I wanted to substitute bacon for the ham and add in some hash browns too.  There isn't a recipe that I followed, I just winged it.  Here is what I did:

Ingredients:

Hash browns (diced or shredded, I used diced)
Bacon (I used turkey bacon)
Eggs
Cheddar cheese, grated
Salt
Pepper
Red Chili Flakes

Preheat oven to 400F.

Take a muffin tin (regular-sized), spray with cooking spray.  Line the of the bottom of the muffin tins with hash browns (somewhere between 1/3-1/2 cup).  Don't overfill.  If you are using shredded hash browns, press them into the bottom and sides of the cup.  I used the diced, and just lined the bottom of the muffin cups.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Remove from oven.

Reduce oven to 375F.

Put some grated cheddar cheese on top of the hot hash browns.  Line each of the muffin cups with bacon (essentially placing the bacon around the inside edge of the muffin cup), crack an egg and pour it on top of the hash browns/inside the bacon.  Add salt, pepper and chili flakes to taste.  Put in the oven and bake for 14-18 minutes, or until the eggs are done to your preference.  Remove from oven and carefully remove from muffin tins.  Enjoy!

VERDICT:
We quite enjoyed these.  It was nice to have the classic breakfast all in one cup - the hash browns, the bacon and the egg.  And easy to put together - thinking a good brunch idea for when we have company!