Shirred Eggs with Thyme
I know I just posted a breakfast recipe a few days ago, but I’ve been loving weekend breakfasts lately! You may have noticed that in my post about waffles, I wrote that we’ve been having them almost every weekend. The rest of the time, we’ve been eating these shirred eggs. We’re pretty much obsessed with them – they’re so good! And so easy to make!
As much as I love breakfast, I never really feel like cooking in the morning. The great part about these is that there really isn’t much “cooking” that needs to be done: no standing over the stove, no measuring. Just throw them in the oven, set the timer, and a few minutes later you have a delicious breakfast. (If you can conjure the energy to cook a few slices of bacon, you’re really set!) For another variation, you can also make baked eggs florentine that are loaded with fresh baby spinach.
Plus there’s something so beautiful about eggshells. They never fail to make me smile. Any day that starts with something so beautiful can never be bad.
You’ll want to use a shallow dish to bake these. I like to use a quarter cup creme brûlée ramekin, which just barely fits two eggs (I usually make one for myself and two for Shawn). I’ve tried making this in a deeper cocotte, but they take much longer to cook and the texture isn’t as nice. Cooking these eggs in shallow ramekins results in an egg with a texture somewhere between fried and poached. The edges get that crispy-fried goodness but, because the container keeps the white from spreading out too much, it stays soft and chewy like a poached egg. Too deep of a dish though, and you’re edges won’t get that nice crispness.
The thicker white also keeps the yolk from running all over the place once it’s broken – if you’re into dipping your toast into your egg yolks, these will be right up your ally. You can also add fresh herbs to the egg before you bake it. My favorite is thyme, but basil or chives are also very good. The fresh herbs really take the egg to the next level and make your breakfast seem a lot more elegant than you would expect being that the recipe is so simple to make. Seriously, I almost feel likeI’m cheating when I make these.
Ingredients
- 1 small pat of butter
- 4 large eggs
- about 2 tsp skim milk
- 1 generous pinch of fresh thyme or an herb of your choice
- Sea salt preferably grey and black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425ºF.
- Use the butter to lightly grease the bottoms and sides of two quarter cup ramekins or other small, shallow dishes. Crack two eggs into each ramekin and drizzle with the milk. Sprinkle the thyme over the top.
- Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and bake for 6 minutes, or until the whites begin to set and the edges just begin to brown. Broil the eggs for an additional 3 minutes or until the center begins to firm up - the eggs will continue to cook slightly when you take them out of the oven. Remove from oven, season with salt and pepper, and enjoy!
- The yolks on these will be coked to an "over-medium" level of doneness. Adjust the broiling time up or down by 1 minute if you prefer your yolks cooked to a different level.
What a yummy treat for breakfast – especially with the thyme. I never baked an egg before and really need to try this.
Your photos are beautiful and really spurred me to try this egg technique; I had read about it in Julia Child’s books and never attempted it because I am just not that crazy about eggs. They look so good, I think I will try it!
I just happen to have a bunch of ramekins that have never really been used. And I’ve always failed at baking eggs. Sounds like a baking win to me! (the broiling! OHHH! THE BROILING! Makes much more sense to cook ’em evenly)
I second doggy bloggy what a cool way to cook eggs
I need to bake some eggs – I am an egg-a-holic you know!
I dip my toast in the yolks sometimes too. It’s just delicious when it’s all runny. Mmmm… I like the added thyme.
Y um! The eggs sound excellent with the addition of fresh thyme!
The eggs look great – and the ease of preparation means I could have them even on a workday. Yum!
These look gorgeous and delicious, and you can’t beat easy! Can’t wait to try them!
Dipping toast into egg yolks? Sign me up! I so miss fresh thyme—you can’t get it year round in Italy (I am normally from Seattle, but living abroad for a year… poor me, right?).
BTW do you just turn up the oven to ‘broil’ or do you first remove the eggs, up the heat then put them back in to finish them under the broiler?
I read once a version of this where they put a thin slice of prosciutto into the ramekin as a ‘liner’ then put the egg into it… 😉 takes care of bacon-making effort;)