BACON, EGG AND TOAST CUPS

Ingredients
6 slices sandwich bread
2 tablespoons butter, melted
6 large eggs
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 pound bacon
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Butter 6 standard size muffin cups with melted butter. Trim crusts from bread and set aside.  Flatten bread slices slightly with a rolling pin, or the palm of your hand.  Press one slice of bread into each muffin cup.  Use reserved crusts to fill in gaps, making sure bread comes up to the edge of the cup.  Brush bread with remaining butter.  In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until almost crisp (it will continue cooking in the oven).  Drain bacon on paper towels and chop into small pieces.  In a medium bowl, whisk eggs with milk until fluffy.  Season with salt and pepper.  Divide beaten eggs among bread cups.  Sprinkle with shredded cheese and bacon.  Season with additional salt and pepper, if desired.  Bake in preheated oven for 15-17 minutes, or until eggs reach desired doneness.

Let's Dish
My son requested to make these when it was his turn to plan and prepare dinner.  He's not much of a meat eater, but he does like eggs.  We saw something similar in Everyday Food magazine and adapted it to suit our family's tastes.  The original recipe used an entire slice of bacon with a whole egg cracked on top.  We're more of a scrambled egg family, so we decided to whip our eggs up first. We also decided to use crumbled bacon and added cheese, making it more like a mini-omelet in a toast cup.  The possibilities for these are endless.  We did a few with whole eggs, some without bacon, and even sprinkled chopped tomato and sliced green onions on a few after they were baked (that was my favorite version).  You could do a vegetarian version with sauteed, chopped veggies.  Or a Mexican version with pepper-jack cheese and hot sauce on the side.  Anything you would put in an omelet could go into these cute little breakfast cups. These were a big hit with the whole family.

Who Dished It Up First
Inspired by Everyday Food Magazine.