Breakfast Cups

From Spring to Fall I have a group of my "food testers" who come over early Sunday mornings for coffee and a dish.  They can always expect a pot of flavored coffee as well as a pot of regular.  I always work up a dish but they never know what it will be in advance.  This week I found myself busy getting my next cookbook manuscript ready to go to the publisher by the end of the month.  Needless to say, I didn't have time to make my dish for Sunday.  I didn't even know what I would be making.  So I got up at 5:30 the next morning and rummaged around for something new.  This recipe is what I ended up with.


shredded cheese
bacon, cooked
grits, cooked
eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  I used my 24 count mini muffin pan.  I filled each tin with shredded cheddar cheese.  I used 3 pieces of pre-cooked bacon which I broke up into bite size pieces, putting a piece of bacon in each tin.  For my grits I used 1 pkg of instant grits which I cooked in 1/2 cup of water in the microwave.  This I divided between the tins (about 1 tsp. in each).  I lightly beat up 5 eggs and spooned them into each tin.  Then into the oven for about 10-12 minutes or until the eggs are done.

One of the ladies in the group is from the North and hates grits.  She has said the only way she will eat them is with lots of sugar and milk.  Well, she ate 5 or 6 before I told her grits were one of the main ingredients.  She couldn't believe it and insisted that they were wonderful.  They must have been because I ended up with no leftovers.

Now, if you totally insist on "no grits" just follow the above directions and leave out the grits.  If I made these without grits I would increase the amount of egg.  You can also use sausage or ham.  One mistake I made was using muffin papers.  The next time I will make them in muffin tins sprayed with non-stick spray and no papers.

I've been asked if I've ever tried this in large muffin tins.  The answer is No, not yet.  The only difference would be to increase the amount of ingredients in each tin as well as the cooking time.   When the egg is set, they should be done.