If you’re stuck for breakfast ideas for your older baby or toddler, then why not give these Breakfast Cups a try – they’re easy to make and a novel way to combine 3 very familiar ingredients!
We tend to make these at weekends, when there’s a little more time available in the mornings, and all our children enjoy them.
They don’t have to be JUST for breakfast, of course – they’d also make a super lunch, particularly with some extra ingredients added (as suggested in our ‘variations’ at the end of the recipe).
But please note that they are best made as and when needed – we don’t find that they keep too well in the fridge (they get very soft), or at all in the freezer.
These Breakfast Cups are ideal finger foods for babies who are biting and chewing.
That being said, we used to prepare them for our youngest family member when he was 8 months old, but made them more manageable for him by ‘tucking in’ the crunchy corners (see the note in the recipe).
The central part of the ‘Cups’ is wonderfully squishy and easy for little ones to gum (also making them great for baby led weaning).
To Make Baby’s Breakfast Cups You Will Need…
6 slices whole wheat bread (not too thick – these will form the ‘shell’ of your cups)
2 eggs
6 tbsp milk (use whole milk, formula or breast milk)
3 tbsp grated Cheddar cheese
unsalted butter
Note: This recipe yields 6 Breakfast Cups for the family to share!
Preheat the oven to 320 deg F (160 deg C).
Cut the crusts off the bread and spread on one side of each slice with the butter.
Place the slices, butter side down, into six holes of a standard muffin tin, carefully pressing them into shape. We leave the corners sticking up because we like them nice and crunchy, but if this recipe is for a younger baby, press them down on themselves, so they are INside the muffin tin.
Place in the oven for 10 mins – this hardens them slightly, so they keep their shape. Remove from the oven.
Beat the eggs with the milk.
Divide the egg mixture between the bread ‘cups’. It will sink into the bread a little and may spill over the edges of the bread into the hole, but that’s fine.
Top each cup with the grated cheese.
Place in the oven and cook for 15 to 20 mins until the eggs have set and the cheese is melted and golden.
You might find that the corners of the bread start to darken – if so, just wrap them in pieces of foil. We line them up in the tin so the corner of one cup touches the corner of the next – that way, we can cover two corners with one piece of foil.
Cool to a safe handling temperature and serve.
VARIATIONS: You can create all sorts of flavours by adding different ingredients to your cups before cooking.
Try fresh herbs, finely chopped, cooked veggies, shredded cooked meat, or a little canned fish like tuna or salmon. Yum!
You can even create sweet Breakfast Cups by adding a little mashed banana or applesauce to the egg mixture instead of savoury ingredients!