Here’s a fast, easy, and very nutrient-dense recipe for Low-Carb Bacon, Egg & Cheese Muffins. These muffins are a delicious on-the-go breakfast — or a healthful snack.
They are made with coconut flour, which is low-carb. If you are on a low-carb diet, you probably miss baked goods every once in a while. It also makes these muffins gluten-free.
I love that these muffins are portable. For all those people who don’t have time to sit down to a nutritious plate of eggs and bacon in the morning — they can grab a muffin and go. You could also make a large batch of these muffins and freeze them, then heat them up in the toaster oven (NEVER the microwave!).
My husband loved them — he said, “Those savory Polish pastries you made were quite good.” Ha! Polish, I don’t know about but I’m glad he liked them.
This recipe is adapted from Bruce Fife’s excellent book, “Cooking with Coconut Flour”.
I made just one change: instead of putting the cheese on top as he recommends, I recommend mixing it into the batter. I followed the recipe as written and I found the muffin texture to be a tad dry — and the cheese was too gooey on top (as you can see in the photo above). The cheese also got stuck to the paper cups.
I also wanted my muffins to be a bit more “eggy”. I think my eggs were a little small. Next time I will try using 4 eggs instead of 3.
Of course, these flaws didn’t stop anyone from eating them. Do not expect leftovers. These muffins will be snarfed up in record time.
Bacon, Egg & Cheese Muffins with Coconut Flour
Makes 6 muffins.
Ingredients:
3 pastured eggs
2 TBS bacon drippings
1/4 tsp sea salt
3 TBS coconut flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill or Tropical Traditions)
1/4 tsp baking powder (aluminum-free — I use Bob’s Red Mill)
8 strips nitrate-free bacon (preferably from pastured pigs that are not fed soy)
1/2 cup (4 oz) cheddar cheese (preferably grass-fed cheese)
Butter or lard (if you are greasing your muffin tin)
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Fry bacon in a skillet until crispy. Set aside.
3. Blend eggs, bacon drippings and salt in a mixing bowl.
4. Add coconut flour and baking powder — mix until there are no lumps.
5. Throw the bacon and cheese into the food processor and pulse until crumbled. Stir into batter.
6. Either grease your muffin tin with butter or lard or use the paper inserts.
7. Pour batter into muffin tin and bake for 15 minutes.
This recipe is part of the new Real Food Wednesday blog carnival. Kelly’s the Kitchen Kop is hosting this week. To see more low carb recipes, visit Kelly the Kitchen Kop!
Disclosure: cmp.ly/4 and cmp.ly/5
{ 76 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh, these look yummy. I’m going to have to try to get my hands on some coconut flour now. Thanks!
I find your website/blog so inspiring! My daughter and I are now doing GAPS so will have to wait on these (the cheese part anyway) but they look delicious. We tried your coconut pancakes and muffin recipes and loved those. Thanks for all of your work and info!
You know Angela, I think they would taste great without the cheese. Just add another egg or two.
They were delicious! I did add the extra egg and it was very good.
Thanks Kathy
I often put in extra egg in the coconut flour recipes and it works out great. I have so many eggs on hand because of my backyard chickens that I am often trying to find ways to use up eggs.
Look for Spanish/Portuguese traditional recipes. Because egg whites were used to treat wines, lots of their traditional recipes call for many egg yolks. Often, whole eggs plus a little extra fat can be substituted for the yolks. I started with the Williams-Sonoma “Savoring Spain and Portugal” table-top cookbook. I loved it so much I started researching more Iberian traditional recipes. You will find hundreds of delicious ways to use up your eggs!
Wow that was fast, Kathy!
Did you put the cheese in? If so, did you mix it in instead of putting it on top? Curious to know how it turned out…
Do you happen to know the nutritional breakdown, especially the carb count for one? I’m too lazy to go over to daily plate and do it myself LOL. These look great.
Motherhen68 (cute name),
I would go look it up on http://www.fitday.com but I am too busy today!
Wow, what a great recipe! Just what I’ve been hoping for – eggs and bacon, made ahead, freezeable, and potentially Ok for GAPS. I’ve been reading your blog every day since I met you at the Deidre Currie festival. You inspire me and have given me great ideas for wholesome, nutrient-dense meals for my family. Keep up the great work!!
Hi, Valerie,
Thank you so much for the compliment. It makes me feel so good to know that I am helping someone!
And yes these muffins are totally fine for GAPS. Just leave out the cheese and add another egg or two. I bet you could make them with almond meal too if you prefer.
Not sure about the baking powder for GAPS, but you know, I made other coconut flour recipes without the baking powder and they came out totally fine.
Ann Marie
These sound delicious! (I’m excited that they’re gluten-free, too!)
I would love to know the protein count on these; I’m sure it’s a good amount!
Thanks!
Michele
Hi Ann Marie,
I just made these muffins today. They are yumm-o! I will definitely be making them again. They would be great for a breaky on the go. I did add 4 eggs instead of 3. You could really experiment with these by adding in peppers and onions too, or sausage, ham, etc.
Thanks for the recipe.
Mmm sounds good with peppers or onions — or sausage!
I think I’ll make another batch with the pork sausage I have in my fridge.
I think instead of the bacon drippings you can also just use butter — or lard.
I bet they were better than mine came out because you incorporated the cheese, eh?
Speaking of baking… I need to get into the kitchen soon. I’m going to make some pie crust (with the lard in my fridge) and make my Steak & Kidney Pie tonight! Woo hoo! (Of course Seth is still out of town, which is why I am able to eat this.)
Let us know how your steak and kidney pie turns out. I made some yogurt dough and put it into the freezer just for that purpose. I have kidney’s in the freezer and need a great recipe for this. You can be the guinea pig Ann Marie!
Kelly the Kitchen Kop had a recipe posted on her blog for graham cakes. I made them yesterday and the kids really liked them.
Ann Marie, will you delete my first comment please? I messed up my html.
Christine, I forgot about those graham cakes, I’m going to look that recipe up again!!
Just made my bacon for those muffins, they sound so good!
Someone asked how low carb these are – since they only call for 3T. of coconut flour, according to my package that would equal 12g net carbs divided by 6 muffins, equals only 2 grams of carbohydrate per muffin!!! Hey, look at me doing math, all without your fancy carb-calculator websites!
p.s. Hi Valerie!
I just made them and they were SO GOOD! The whole family scarfed them down.
So much for my math, though! The 4g net carbs above was for 2T., so actually they’re only 1g/muffin! Even less, if you make them a bit smaller like I did – a double batch made 17.
I figured the comparison if you were to make it with whole wheat flour or white flour. The coconut flour makes it 6g carbs/batch, whole wheat would be 15g, and white would be 19 1/2/batch – a big difference!
BTW, I didn’t feel like getting my food processor out, so I just crumbled the bacon small and used my shredded raw cheddar.
Last thing: I’m learning to like coconut very slowly, so I was wondering if I would notice a coconut taste in these, but I didn’t AT ALL! I think with the bacon grease and enough other ingredients, it becomes unnoticable. Yay!
Thanks, Ann Marie! If you find other good recipes in that coconut cookbook, let us know!
Kelly
Wow, thanks, Kelly! That is great info about how low carb these are. You’d never know it, either, don’t you think? They taste so good.
I actually have an extra copy of Bruce Fife’s book, “Cooking With Coconut Flour”. So I’m going to do a giveaway!
The recipes in that book are all so great — I just love it.
It will be my first giveaway. I’m excited about it! In fact, maybe I’ll post about it today!
I made these muffins– delicous. I did a fourth egg, pre-shredded cheese inside and on top, and crumbled bacon.
I keep them in the fridge and when I get hungry I pop one in the toaster oven and it sizzles and gets crispy and they are sooo delicious. Can’t taste the coconut.
I almost bought Bob’s Red Mill coconut flour, but I’m trying to spend less. Seeing how I only needed a couple tablespoons, I bought some bulk organic finely shredded coconut at Whole Foods and put it through the grain mill. (Although– warning– it did turn oily and get stuck after a while.)
I have enough of all the ingredients to make it again, and I definitely will. So excited! While cooking I was explaining to my brother about how starches give you blood sugar bumps (here I would demonstrate with my hands, drawing a line graph spike like on a heart monitor) and saturated fat smooths those bumps out. I explained that coconut flour is naturally easier on your blood sugar, and then we have lots of good saturated fat– cheese, bacon, bacon grease, and eggs– to smooth out your blood sugar even more. Aaaand on top of that, it tastes good!
Ahhhh I am so happy you tried them and liked them, Katy! And thank you for sharing that explanation of why coconut oil is good for us (well, one of the reasons — I’m sure there are more).
I made these last night and because I doubled the recipe (we have a 12 muffin pan), I could have skrewed it up….but I thought they were a little too salty. So next time I would omit the salt because my bacon made up for any salt needs, well and the cheese too. Maybe no one else agrees but that would be my two cents. Thanks for the delicious recipe.
Interesting… mine were not too salty. Not at all.
It may depend on the kind of bacon and cheese you are using. The bacon I buy from my farmer is much less salty than say Niman Ranch bacon…
I just whipped up this recipe; Lovely! I omitted bacon (since I don’t have any on hand), used 2 T butter (instead of bacon drippings), 4 eggs instead of three, and dumped all the indredients into a wide mouth quart jar and used my immersion blender to whip it all up.
The savory muffins have a moist, cakey texture without having the gritty-coconut-flour feel.
I can see this basic recipe having many possibilities! I’ll definitely add it to my repertoire. Thank you!!
I am SO dag-on excited about these muffins. if it weren’t snowing out I’d run out to buy a big thing of coconut flour this minute! oh you made my day!!!
Absolutely wonderful! Just what I’ve been looking for. Thanks for sharing.
Oh. My. Gosh. I finally got around to making these this morning — they’re not just gluten-free good, they are heavenly! Thanks so much for posting this…I’m going to order Bruce Fife’s book right now!
Stacey’s last blog post..Electronics Recycling at Best Buy
Yummy! I’m making these for dinner tonight with homemade cheddar, bacon from our neighbors’ pigs, and butter from our cow, Beauty. And as someone who is allergic to all wheat and corn, I am totally buying that cookbook.
Stacie
These are great! I froze them individually wrapped in plastic (is that bad?) so my husband can just warm one or two up for breakfast.
I used turkey bacon, and it became a little more chewy in the baking process. I think I’ll try the next batch without the bacon. Would beef work?
These look fabulous – cannot wait to try! Ann Marie, is that non-stick muffin tins I see? Looking into stoneware, myself, and just got rid of my non-stick ones…
I was wondering if I could add some onions and peppers and make them into mini crustless quiche?? If so, would I saute the onions and peppers before adding them? I love you site, I just found it today and can’t wait to try some of the recipes. I am new to the world of gluten-free.
I have tried Atkins Diet, South Beach Diet and other forms of Low Carb diet. They are all good for the general health and for maintaining a healthy weight.
I am so excited about this recipe. I follow your blog sometimes, but I’m a bad follower, so I missed this one when it was posted. Doh! Thankfully, someone told me about this post, and I am SO excited to make these!
I’m having a baby in a few week, and I’m always pretty useless in the kitchen (or anywhere but the couch, really) for a few weeks after my babies are born, so protein is always a toughie for me. Even though eggs are ridiculously easy to make, they just don’t happen…soooo, I’m super thrilled about this recipe, and I’m going to make a TON of them to stick in the freezer.
My husband is really excited too, because he never gets up early enough to eat breakfast, and needs something easy to take with him, so these will be perfect for him.
The only bummer is that I can’t get coconut flour until Saturday, and the wait is killing me! I ordered some from Azure Standard, but apparently, they were out, so now I have to wait until I can make it to the health-food-store on Saturday…*sigh*
I don’t know why I felt the need to share all of that information…this is what happens when you have preggo insomnia at 4:30 am.
These look so good. I tried a similar recipe from Mark Sisson’s new Primal Blueprint Cookbook but they didn’t have bacon, so I’m going to try this one!
.-= Jeanmarie´s last blog ..We Have One Less Chicken- =-.
This is my favorite recipe.
These were super yummy. I couldn’t find any coconut flour at the store I went to, so I used rice flour instead. It worked out pretty well. I’ve never cooked with coconut flour before and I’d really like to give it a whirl so hopefully next time… Thanks for the super yum recipe! My one year old has only thrown one bite off the high chair! High praise from him!
I am totally trying these tomorrow! I’ve got an “Egg Stretching Carnival” going on at my site and I’m looking for GAPS/SCD legal breakfasts that don’t require a lot of eggs (because November is a low-production month for eggs). Please come share this recipe! http://www.wellfedhomestead.com/2010/11/18/egg-stretching-carnival/
Great recipe! They are so filling!!! I had one harsh & very picky person try one and she enjoyed it. I was shocked because she hates everything. 14 month old wouldn’t put a piece in his mouth but I know his time will come soon!!
I just made these and they are just as good cool as they are hot! My 3 year-old and my 15 month old enjoyed them. I had enough for 9 muffins. I used turkey bacon b/c that was all we had on hand so not as much bacon drippings, but I can imagine the sweet/salty taste of real pork bacon oozing out of these! A BIG THANKS!
I made these this morning with 4 eggs and the crumbles cheese mixed in, but I used turkey sausages instead of bacon and butter instead of bacon grease. Came out delicious. My brother liked them, but, sadly, the kids (2 & 4) weren’t as crazy about them. They’re not big on eggs, so that’s why I like coconut flour muffins b/c I can get a lot of eggs into them (as well as putting raw pastured egg yolks in their smoothies). Maybe they’d like them a little more if I used 3 eggs instead of four? The loved the blueberry muffins made with coconut flour. I know my hubby will love them just like this, though…I saved three in the fridge for his breakfast tomorrow! (-:
I love it when people come together and share opinions, great blog,keep it up
Have you tried making the muffins more plain (I’m thinking english muffin or croissant style) and then slicing them and filling them with eggs and bacon? Maybe a little maple syrup in the muffin
i make these quite regularely as a breakfast option for my hubby to take with him to work…he doesnt mind them and i like the fact that he is not stuffing himself with something sugary first thin in the morning.
we’ve made these several times now and LOVE them!! We use beef bacon as our family does not eat pork and we substituted the baking powder with baking soda to make them GAPS legal and it worked great!! Thank you for sharing!!!
I love that coconut flour cookbook. We make the lemon cookie recipe, but put the batter in mini muffin pans instead of making cookies. SO GOOD. and I friend told me to use 12 drops of lemon essential oil instead of the lemon extract. VERY GOOD.
never thought of making the muffins. I make a coconut flour cake, occasionally….. muffins would be easier to store.
My kids and I like the bacon, egg, and cheese muffins, but my husband does not. He said he doesn’t like the texture.
my husband is fussy about textures too….. what is it w/ them. LOL
Oh these muffins sound like the ticket…. I need to eat breakfast and these sound like the perfect thing for me……. grag a cuppa joe and a muffin. I love to use coconut flour in my baking, it is really the best thing since sliced bread.
I love coconut flour too……. but do not use it often enough.
wow, those look like a nice portable breakfast. Must try them!
thanks for the recipe, these sound so good. I love your recipes
This sounds yummy! we typically fry our eggs in bacon grease and achieve the same flavors!
Can I easily sub the coconut flour with fresh ground wheat flour in this recipe? We don’t eat pork, so I plan to make these with chopped turkey. Could I use coconut oil instead of bacon drippings?
I did the nutritional calculation on a website and here is what I got:
Calories 160.9
Total Fat 13.0 g
Saturated Fat 6.0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.0 g
Monounsaturated Fat 3.4 g
Cholesterol 103.3 mg
Sodium 358.4 mg
Potassium 72.5 mg
Total Carbohydrate 2.9 g
Dietary Fiber 1.5 g
Sugars 0.0 g
Protein 7.8 g
Vitamin A 5.8 %
Vitamin B-12 6.1 %
Vitamin B-6 2.9 %
Vitamin C 0.0 %
Vitamin D 4.7 %
Vitamin E 0.4 %
Calcium 8.8 %
Copper 0.7 %
Folate 2.8 %
Iron 2.6 %
Magnesium 0.5 %
Manganese 0.2 %
Niacin 3.1 %
Pantothenic Acid 0.9 %
Phosphorus 7.7 %
Riboflavin 5.9 %
Selenium 3.0 %
Thiamin 3.9 %
Zinc 3.6 %
I read in one spot that you can not taste the coconut flour. Is this true for everyone? My husband hates the taste of coconut and these would be for him. Could I use some other flour?
Also how do you think they would do frozen and then eaten a room temp? Trying to make him some freezer grab and go meals. Thanks
Hi Breanna, I cannot taste the coconut flour. I have a fairly sensitive palate. Of course, I like coconut, and sometimes people who hate a flavor can detect it in anything!
I have not yet frozen them, so I can’t say the effect of freezing/thawing, but they are fresh out of the oven and have cooled almost completely and I can tell you they are good at room temperature. My plan is to keep them in the fridge all week and warm them in the toaster oven for breakfast.
Wow! This looks so good that I am going to make this for breakfast tomorrow and just try baking soda instead of baking powder. I just went grain free and have been looking for new recipes. I am transitioning into GAPS and expanding my repertoire. I will come back with the results.
Thanks.
Ester
I am back to say that these are pretty good. For all those on GAPS, you can use 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and 1 Tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar to help any baking product rise.
I just made these. They were absolutely wonderful. Thanks for inspiring me!
Happy Holidays!
Jane Casey
Had this for breakfast today. I made mine in mini-muffin pan and baked for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Made 18. Hubby liked them a lot.
Hey, made a double batch of these tonight. I used 8 eggs because of AM’s comment about wanting them more eggy than 3 was giving her. I doubled everything else. I used a normal size muffin tin, not the jumbo muffin tin.
I did grease the pan well but they stuck a bit anyway, not sure why–perhaps slightly under- or overcooked? I loosened the sides with a knife but it was quickly evident that the sticking was happening almost entirely on the bottoms for some reason. I scooped them out with a fork and they were a weensy bit mangled on the bottoms but they taste great!
Just whipped up a batch of these to keep on hand in the freezer…they are very yummy! I think my 2 year old will love them and already gave a few pieces to my 11 month old and he loved it! I also added chopped green onions & a little pepper.
I just made a triple batch of these……first time trying them. They are so good! My husband says they’re the best muffins he’s ever had (big bacon lover there, lol). I probably used about 18 eggs and ended up using some grass-fed butter because I didn’t have enough bacon drippings, but we’re loving them. Throwing the extras in the freezer to have for later! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Just pulled the first batch out of the oven, I followed exactly and made 6 reg. sized muffins. They smell fantastic and even though I made these for my hubby so he can have a quick & easy breakfast before work I may have to steal one just to be sure they taste good
Just made this and they are amazing! Thanks so much!
I did the nutritional info via MyFitness Pal. I used one extra egg and one extra tablespoon of coconut flour. They came out to ONE NET CARB per muffin! OMG! They are in the oven right now and I can’t wait to eat them!!!!
OK, we made them, we ate them!
They are actually a little bit dry and a little bit too salty. Next time I will only use a pinch of extra salt. And I think I might add in a tablespoon or two of heavy whipping cream.
Other ideas: I like the idea that someone above had of a crustless quiche. I would saute the onions and peppers and maybe even some garlic. Add an extra egg or two, definitely heavy cream. And maybe substitute chopped pancetta or crumbled sausage for the bacon, or even use a combination of crumbled/chopped meats.
I will definitely be experimenting with this.
My husband and I, and our teenage daughter, are all low-carb (semi-Atkins) and are all losing weight (my husband has insulin resistance, so he is thrilled to finally find something that works and doesn’t feel like starvation — he is approaching his all time low weight and finally fits back into his 32-waist jeans!)
Anyway, coconut flour is DA BOMB as they say. I will be experimenting with it more and more. Hubby and daughter are also allergic to nuts and legumes, so I will be substituting flax meal for almond or chickpea meal in other recipes. Always a delicious adventure…..
OK, I have been experimenting and this is what I came up with today, a variation of the recipe which is hardy and great for a low carb, high protein, high fat breakfast (good for Atkins, etc).
Sausage, Pacetta, and Cheese Low Carb Breakfast Muffins
Makes 12 Muffins – ONLY 1 NET CARB EACH!!!! (YES!!!!)
8 eggs
6 T coconut flour
1T baking powder
1 cup shredded cheese
3 regular sized sweet italian sausages (raw and uncooked – I used Trader Joe’s), casings taken off
1 ounce Citerro cubed Pancetta (you can find it at Trader Joe’s)
2T heavy whipping cream
1T canola oil
Salt to taste
Preheat oven to 400. Line muffin tins with paper cups.
Take the casings off the 3 sausages, cut the meat into pieces. Over medium heat, cook it in a frying pan, breaking up the sausage into small pieces with your saute spoon. When the sausages are almost cooked through, add the pancetta and render as much fat as possible from the sausages and pancetta, letting the pancetta become a bit crispy. DO NOT DRAIN THE FAT. Take it off the stove and let it cool for a few minutes.
In a bowl, blend the 8 eggs with a wisk, and add in the 2T heavy cream.
In another small bowl, mix the coconut flour with the baking powder. Add salt to taste (I didn’t add any salt at all).
Add the coconut flour/baking powder mixture to the eggs, and blend briefly. Add the cheese and mix until it’s relatively smooth.
Add the meats and the drippings and 1T of canola oil. Mix until everything is combined well.
Divide the mixture up into 12 muffins. If desired, you can put a little more shredded cheese on top of each muffin.
Bake for 15 minutes.
YUM! My family LOVES them!
According to MyFitness Pal, each muffin contains:
195 calories
3 carbs (1 Net Carb)
16G fat
11G protein
2 G fiber
If you start your day with TWO of these muffins, you get:
391 calories
6 carbs (3 Net Carbs)
31 G fat
21 G protein
3 G fiber
Enjoy!
Oh! It isn’t one Tablespoon of baking powder….it’s one TEASPOON! Sorry about that typo in the ingredients!
HI, I am not aware of this recipe. I am from South India. We used have Dosa and Idly as main breakfast food items. It will be interesting, if I try this at home. Let me try.
What would you add in lieu of bacon drippings. We are kosher/Jewish. We can use turkey bacon, but there will probably not be enough drippings to add.
Cori
Cori, you have lots of choices with such a versatile recipe. Either keep it dairy (with the cheese) and skip the meat and use butter or coconut oil instead of the bacon fat; or you could make it meat and eliminate the cheese but add a larger amount of turkey bacon and use either beef drippings, schmaltz, or coconut oil; or you could make the recipe pareve by skipping both the cheese and the meat and using just coconut or olive oil and some chopped, cooked veggies like cauliflower or broccoli, or even some salmon if you like. Play with it. Have fun!
I have these reusable silicone cupcake papers, except they’re not paper. Work really well for sticky things.
These came out dry and rubbery. I used extra eggs. (5) thinking of trying almond flour next time and adding caramelized onions and peppers or asparagus. Also- they stuck to the paper liners.
This is my go-to recipe for road trip breakfasts. I really like making them in my whoopie pie pan. I made it per the recipe (doubled) the first time around. Since then, I’ve used almond flour instead of coconut (I don’t measure, just try to get back to the consistency of when I made it with coconut flour). Lovely!
Nice blog here! Also your website loads up fast! What web host are you using? Can I get your affiliate link to your host? I wish my website loaded up as fast as yours lol|
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