I love to eat breakfast any time of the day. And by breakfast, I mean eggs. I could eat eggs three times a day and never get bored. There are so many ways to eat them! I even have an entire Pinterest board dedicated to recipe ideas that involve eggs; Breakfast Anytime. Most of them are frittatas (my favorite things to create) and muffin things like this one, but there are some others on there that I make quite often, like this Kale and Feta Egg Bake recipe. You should check it out. But you won’t find any other kinds of breakfast recipes, like the carbtastic ones, because we don’t really eat food like that in our house. I have never been a pancake/waffle/french toast kind of person, except maybe a few times when I was pregnant. I blame my Sugar Bee for that.

Speaking of Sugar Bee, she’s a broccoli fiend. This kid goes through phases of obsessions (like all toddlers), but the broccoli one seems to be pretty consistent. The odd part to me is that her preferred way to eat it is raw with hummus, which completely thrills me as eating raw foods retains their nutrients. Steaming is the next best option, but raw broccoli maintains its high levels of vitamins A ,C, and K, and none of the other bonuses (calcium, iron, fiber, and the cancer-fighting sulforaphane) have a chance to deteriorate like they do when cooked. Of course in this recipe, the broccoli is steamed before a quick bake in the eggs, but I couldn’t help rambling on about the reasons for my broccoli love. Now on to the recipe!

Everyone complains about egg muffins sticking to the pan, but I haven’t found using liners to be a much better solution. This time, I decided to spray the liners with cooking spray (yes, I use PAM – gasp! – and Trader Joe’s makes a good coconut oil one but coconut and eggs don’t go together) to see if that would make a difference. It did help make the paper a lot easier to remove from the muffins…no little pieces left behind after removing the liner…especially in the ridges along the sides where little pieces would hide. I don’t care much for paper in my food.

After setting up the liners, preheat the oven to 375ºF and get a pot of water heating up to steam the broccoli. I use a stainless pot with a steam insert similar to this one, but it’s a lot nicer than mine. (That’s why there’s no picture. I really need a new one.) Chop up about 2 cups of broccoli into small pieces and steam for a few minutes, just until you can poke a fork through and there is a bright green mess looking at you when you lift the lid.

In a large bowl, crack in 8 eggs and whisk together. I like to add a little water to make it fluffy. Add about 1 Tablespoon dried chives. I didn’t have any fresh on hand, but if you do, always go with fresh herbs. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, a few circles around the bowl of sriracha (or other hot sauce), and shredded cheese. I used a cheddar/Mexican blend, but any flavor will do. Add the steamed broccoli and stir to combine.

Spoon into the muffin liners so they are almost full and top with more cheese. You can never have too much cheese. Unless you can’t eat cheese. And that thought just makes me sad.

 I had some left in the bowl after filling the 12 muffin liners, so I grabbed one of these little ramekins and poured the rest in. (If you don’t have a small ovenproof baker or two to use, you might want to omit an egg or some of the broccoli or cheese from the recipe.) This made a nice portion for the Russian when he got home from school that night.

Bake for 12-15 minutes. The magic number for me was 14, but my oven is so old, just check on it and use your judgement. They should fluff up and be pretty when they are done, with a slight golden sheen.

  So yummy! I couldn’t stop eating them. I think I had three for dinner that night. Sugar Bee enjoyed hers, too!

---

Cheese Broccoli Egg Muffins

Breakfast can be any time and any place with these portable, protein-filled muffins. Broccoli is high in vitamins, fiber, protein, and cancer-fighting nutrients. This is a tasty way to get more broccoli into your diet. Superfood!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups chopped broccoli
• 8 eggs
• Splash of water
• 1 Tbsp chives (dried)
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• A few circles of sriracha, or hot sauce of your choice
• Salt and pepper (to taste)
• 1.5 cups shredded cheese, divided

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Add cupcake liners to 12-muffin baking tin. Spray liners with cooking spray.
2. Steam broccoli for 2-5 minutes, until can be pierced with a fork and are still bright green. Remove from heat.
3. In large bowl, whisk together eggs and water. Add chives, garlic powder, hot sauce, salt, pepper, and 1 cup of cheese. Stir to combine.
4. Spoon mixture into muffin liners and top with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake 12-15 minutes. Muffins will fluff up and have a few golden spots on them when done. Enjoy!