Spring Into Summer: Freezer Egg McMuffins

The weekend is the perfect time to plan ahead for the busy work-week ahead. I like to make a dinner meal plan and when I have time, cook big meals for lunch leftovers. And what better meal to plan ahead for than breakfast? No one wants to wake up earlier than necessary to get to work, am I right? I mean, I grab a Luna bar and some fruit (seriously, I’m so lazy that on Friday I brought a whole container of blueberries…I couldn’t even put them in a Ziploc) and head out the door. But that gets boring, so what to do?

Easy? Make breakfasts ahead of time! Like these Freezer Egg McMuffins. They are so good and so easy to make ahead of time, eliminating a wait at the drive-thru or cooking something in the wee hours of the morning.

I made 12 breakfast sandwiches for this post because they are really easy to freeze and they reheat nicely. I used the same basic ingredients for my versions (English Muffins, eggs, cheese). I also used butter while McDonald’s uses something called “Liquid Margarine.”

My total bill for these came to $16.00 or about $1.33/sandwich. I think McD’s sells them for about $1 a piece, so it would cost you maybe $12-$13 to buy the same sandwiches there.

But here’s some interesting facts though about what a bit of time and that extra $3 gets you:

• Whole Grains. McD’s uses “enriched” wheat flour in their product. I used a nice whole wheat product. Thomas’ makes some great 100 calorie, high protein and fiber muffins that will seriously keep you full!
• No Less Saturated Fat. Their version has 5 grams.
• Less Sodium. One McDonald’s Egg McMuffin (with no sausage or anything) has 580g of sodium, about 1/4 (!) of what you should be eating every day.
• Real Cheese. I used a nice medium cheddar cheese. Their version can barely be called cheese.
• Storability. I can freeze mine. I wouldn’t recommend buying an Egg McMuffin and then coming home and freezing it. That means when I want one, I just have to open my freezer.
• A few, real ingredients. Guess how many ingredients (most of which you can’t pronounce) are in an Egg McMuffin… 55. English Muffin. Cheese. Egg. 55 ingredients. Go figure.

Egg and Cheese Breakfast Sandwiches
Yield: 12 Sandwiches

Ingredients:

English Muffins

Large eggs

Cheese (I used about 10 ounces for 12 sandwiches.)

Butter, or olive oil (optional)

To get that classic Egg McMuffin shape to the egg is kind of tricky. Oh wait. No it’s not. Just grab a muffin tin and and very lightly oil each spot in the tin with either butter or spray oil (I used a very small amount of butter on a paper towel.)

Then crack an egg in each muffin area!

Stick these in a 350 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes. Sometimes for sandwiches like this, I like my eggs runny, but since I was freezing them and everything, I thought it’s probably a better idea to make sure they are cooked through.

While you’re waiting for your eggs to cook, grate some cheese.

I sliced all of my muffins in half and laid them all out on a baking sheet. After about 10 minutes in the oven (you can toast these at the same time as your eggs are cooking), they’ll be toasty and ready to go.

This is not rocket science ladies. Take half of a muffin, add some cheese, add an egg, and apply the top half of the muffin.

If you’re so inclined, add a tiny smear of butter onto the top half of the muffin, just for some added flavor. You could also hit the sandwich with some pepper if you wanted or even some hot sauce!

Now you have two options:

Eat these right away!

If you wanted to eat these right away, just stick them back in the oven for 5 or 10 minutes until they are warmed through and the cheese is melted and delicious.

Or…

Store for later!

If you want to store these for later, stick all your sandwiches on a baking sheet and put them all in the freezer, uncovered and unwrapped. Leave them in there for about an hour. This will give them a chance to give off some moisture and also freeze a bit. If you were to wrap them up right away then there would be all kinds of liquid that would condense.

But don’t forget about them or they’ll get freezer burned! Pull them all out after an hour or two and wrap them individually in plastic wrap or foil and then store them in a freezer safe plastic bag. They will keep for a few weeks without a problem.

Tip for Heating (or Reheating)
There is really only one tip: Don’t use a microwave. I tried one in the microwave and it is just okay. It’s definitely edible and if you’re in a rush, it’ll have to do, but if you have the time, heat them in the oven. From completely frozen to warm and melted, it’ll take about 25 minutes (time to do your hair and makeup) in a 350 degree oven.

Or, pop it in your bag, drive to work (while it defrosts) and heat it up in a toaster oven!

Do these breakfast sandwiches require a tiny bit more time and money than the Fast Food version? I suppose so, yes. I can’t deny that.

But I do think that the tiny extra effort and amount of money you put in will pay handsome dividends in almost all cases. In this case, you get practically the same dish except it’s way healthier and tastes better.

{Recipe Source: Macheesmo}

• Health & Wellness
• Diet
• Self
• Breakfast
• Healthy Recipes