This recipe is inspired by a recipe handed to me by my acupuncturist and certified healing foods specialist, Bret J Shulman Acupuncture. Whether you have to live a gluten free lifestyle for health reasons or just looking to cut back on your gluten intake, these breakfast muffins deliver on flavor and texture.
I source some great ingredients for these breakfast egg muffins including pastured eggs, raw cheese, organic coconut and tapioca flours and nitrate free bacon. These little muffins are full of fat, protein and flavor!
What Flours are Gluten Free?
First of all, when I first heard the term gluten free as it related to baking, it started to conjure up all sorts of dry, crumbly kitchen mishaps that would just make me yearn for something more decadent. I was determined to find flour combinations that would satisfy my foodie palette as well as the picky bread eaters in the house.
The original recipe called for coconut flour only which is high in fiber and gluten free. Coconut flour is also dry and requires more moisture and fat to avoid that sandpaper like texture that can occur If you don’t know what you’re doing.
After much trial and error, I was introduced to tapioca flour by my roommate from Brazil. Turns out tapioca is a staple in Brazilian cooking and is derived from the cassava root. Tapioca flour is high in carbohydrates and gives baked goods a sponge like springy texture when balanced with other gluten free flours such as coconut or almond flour.
What Are Pastured Eggs
These breakfast muffins are about nutrition. Remember that old saying, breakfast is the most important meal of the day? Well, eating processed cereal and a boat load of carbs is not what we would call nutritious. If you’re going to eat eggs and want to level up your game, pastured eggs are the way to go.
There have been numerous studies comparing pastured eggs to conventional eggs, organic eggs and more. The lingo can get confusing. Pastured eggs mean those little chickens get to roam free, which get this, is a whole other world compared to that marketing term “free range.”
Pastured eggs are known to have double the vitamin E, higher percentages of vitamin A and twice as much Omega-3 fats.
What is Raw Cheese
Cheese lovers, you have a multitude of options here when it comes to breakfast. I personally like sharp cheddar. I’m lucky to have a supply coming from my farm co-op so I know they are using raw milk from pastured grass fed cows. If raw milk cheeses aren’t readily available in your area you can find organic cheddar cheese at Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods.
One of these days I’m going to give goat cheese a try and I could also see a Mexican inspired breakfast muffin using manchego cheese. If you’re in the mood for Italian, try using some Parmigiano Reggiano. The beauty of these muffins is being able to swap out ingredients to give yourself variety.
How to Make Bacon in the Oven
You can ask Google, Siri, Cortana, Grandma, Aunt Sally or anyone in your neighborhood what the best way to cook bacon is and you may get a number of different responses. Hands down, making bacon in the oven is the simplest, cleanest and crispiest way for me. Line your baking sheet with foil and have a virtually no clean up process which in my busy world, means everything!
Laying your bacon flat on the baking sheet allows for even cooking. Depending on your oven you may want to go with a middle rack or top rack. Cooking bacon in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20 to 25 minutes seems to do the trick, plus my forearms are now bacon grease burn free!
You can prep the bacon ahead of time or just have some bacon ready to eat with breakfast or just to eat bacon with your bacon when it’s bacon o’clock. Know what I mean?
You can find more bacon goodness in our French Onion Mushroom Cups Recipe
Gluten Free Breakfast Muffin Ingredients
Now it’s time to put this all together, eggs, bacon and cheddar… oh my! So, here’s the deal, we like our egg muffins BIG! We tripled the original recipe and it makes 12 large muffins. Here’s what you need.
9 pastured eggs
2 tablespoons bacon grease
9 tablespoons organic coconut flour
3 tablespoons organic tapioca flour
1/4 teaspoon aluminum free baking powder
8 strips nitrate free organic bacon (organic)
8 oz cheddar cheese shredded
12 tablespoons Big Lou’s Spicy Onion Sauce
Organic coconut oil to grease muffin tin
How to Make Gluten Free Breakfast Muffins
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Cook bacon in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, cut into bits and set aside
3. Blend eggs and bacon grease in a large mixing bowl
4. Mix coconut flour, tapioca flour and baking powder in a separate bowl
5. Combing wet and dry ingredients
6. Add the bacon and cheese to the mixture
7. Grease muffin tin with coconut oil
8. Use 1/4 measuring cup and fill muffin tin
9. Add tablespoon of Big Lou’s Spicy Onion Sauce to top of each muffin
10. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean
You can also mix things up with different cheeses, spinach or scallions to add some greens and fresh flavor. I mean you could also do this without bacon but who in their right mind would want to?!
Have an experience you’d like to share or tips on how to make these breakfast muffins even better? We’d love to hear all about it. Share your tips in the comments below and maybe we’ll use your recipe idea in one of episodes of the Big Food Talk. f
