Anyone who knows me even slightly knows I’m obsessed with the Egg Bites you can buy at Starbucks. I think both flavors are delicious, but I’m particularly in love with the bacon and gruyere version. My habit/addiction is costly, however. At over $4 for two of these gems, I could spend over $20 a week if I bought these every day. Which I would like to do. Because they are that amazingly delicious. And of course that four dollars does not include any sort of drink I may purchase at the same time.
One day last week I went to Starbucks per normal on my way to work. I always use the mobile app because I don’t have time in the morning to dilly-dally at the counter. Plus I actually like the egg bites to be a bit cooled down by the time I sink my teeth into them. So I order them, leave my house and arrive at Starbucks about 5 or 7 minutes later and my bites are awaiting me. This morning was no exception.
When I got to the front door that morning, a bit earlier than normal, I found the door locked. Because I was early I wondered if I was too early. Maybe they hadn’t opened yet. But the sign on the window said they open at 4:30 am and it was 5:30 am. The door should have been unlocked. I could see my egg bites at the counter packaged all nice and neat with a fork taped to the packaging. I rapped my knuckles on the glass door to no avail. The barista behind the counter either didn’t hear me or ignored me. I rapped my knuckles slightly louder a second time with the same result. On the third go round I began pounding on the door with my fists. I’m sure I looked like a crazy person.
At that point the barista acknowledged me by waving her arm at me telling me to go around to the back of the store where there’s another door. I was completely miffed. Like first-world problems miffed. The barista apologized to me and I grabbed my egg bites and asked if I could exit out the front door. The door that’s along the street where my car was parked. Where I park my car every morning. Every single time I go to this Starbucks I enter the front door, no issues. The barista replied that if the door was locked I couldn’t go in or out.
As calmly as I could, I suggested they put a sign on the door so people know to go around back (and don’t waste their precious time). I’m sure when I left they mocked me. But whatever. It’s common courtesy to let people know the main door isn’t going to be unlocked. Is it not?
I haven’t been back to that Starbucks. And I plan to boycott that particular location in the future. Which isn’t hard because there’s one just about a mile or two down that same street on my way to work. There’s also about 6 other locations within a mile from my house.
Long story short, after the door debacle I was hell bent on making my own egg bites to save both my time and my money. I had purchased a sous vide maker about a week or two prior and had been futzing around with recipes since. But I decided to really buckle down and nail a copycat version of the Starbucks recipe at home. Complete with egg bites that are even shaped just like the ones at Starbucks. (Sorta.)
This took a lot of research and thought on my part. I’ve found several general recipes for copycat versions of the egg bites. I wanted mine to be an exact replica. So I looked at the ingredients on the website and tinkered around a bit on MyFitnessPal until I got a nutrient breakdown that was close enough to the one listed on Starbucks website.
I can’t quite figure out their recipe. The recipe appears to use only eggs and no egg whites, yet if you look at the cholesterol in their eggs it’s insanely low. I added egg whites to my recipe to up the protein and keep the cholesterol in check and fat slightly lower. Also, I’m perplexed by the butter listed in the recipe. I’m assuming the butter is used to grease the pans or whatever they use for cooking. I melted some and added it to the mixture. Butter makes everything better, right? I also omitted the hot sauce because there’s nothing “hot” about the egg bites you get at Starbucks. Unless you add a packet of sriracha sauce to your eggs, of course. I’m assuming the hot sauce listed on the ingredients is referring to the extra/optional packet of hot sauce.
Onto the “container.” I started out making these babies in glass jars. It’s fine. They work fine. I mean the egg comes out looking anemic, not nice and browned like the Starbucks version, but they taste decent. Since I’m used to something slightly round, almost like half a ping pong ball or something, I wanted my bites to have the same general shape.
I found a website that claims to give the recipe for a copycat version. This website will remain nameless. The pictures on the website look suspiciously exactly like the egg bites you will find at Starbucks. Right down to the cardboard containers they are served in. In the comments section someone asked the author of the blog how he/she got the perfectly formed egg bites. You will see in every other blog that no one’s bites look even remotely close to the Starbucks shape. The author evaded the question. Or answered it with a non-answer. Which has me even more convinced that he/she just took a picture of the Starbucks egg bites and claimed them as his/her own.
I will tell you that the pictures on this website are all my own. And you can tell because … they don’t really look like the Starbucks egg bites you buy. But given my expansive research I believe the containers I used will get you about as close as you can get to the Starbucks variety. Read on, my friend.
ingredients.
- 6 eggs
- 1 c. egg whites
- 1 c. cottage cheese (2% milk fat)
- 2 T. melted butter, cooled
- 1 T. rice starch
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 2 oz Monterrey jack cheese (shredded)
- 4 oz gruyere cheese (shredded), divided
- 12 oz uncured applewood bacon, cooked to desired doneness, torn into small pieces
equipment.
- Blender or food processor
- Sous vide maker
- Silicone baby food (freezer tray) container with silicone lid (BPA free)
directions.
- Heat your sous vide mechanism to 172 degrees. I can make the recipe and get everything prepped and still my water is not hot enough. So get this started early.
- In a blender or food processor, add the eggs, egg whites, cottage cheese, salt, starch, and Monterrey jack cheese. Blend until completely smooth. I used my Nutribullet for this and it worked very nicely but for the fact that my ingredients were way above the fill line and leaked out a bit while blending. But that’s neither here nor there.
- Spray your baby food containers with cooking spray. Place a few small pieces of bacon and some shredded gruyere cheese into each cup. Fill almost to the top with the egg mixture. Cover the container with the silicone lid and secure.
- When the water is hot enough, gently place your container on top the water and let it float. So total transparency, my sous vide maker has a cover. It looks like a crockpot. I then cover the maker and let it do it’s magic for 90 minutes.
- Once the 90 minutes have passed, gently remove the container from the hot water. I have a large plastic … jeez … I have no idea what it is. It’s wider than a soup ladle and a lot flatter and has holes in it. That’s what I use to kind of heft my sous vide creations out of the water and then I use my hands to just place them on the counter.
- Let cool completely – I pop them into the fridge.
- When you’re ready to eat them, heat your oven to 450 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with some sort of cooking spray. Place your egg bites on top. Top each egg bite with a piece of bacon and some extra gruyere cheese and even some Monterrey jack if you so choose. Bake for approximately 5 minutes and then turn up the heat to a broil and broil the top for a minute or two.
- Let cool slightly before you enjoy. Or let cool completely and reheat in the microwave another time.
This recipe makes approximately 18 egg bites.
Here’s the skinny on the nutrition for each serving: 152 calories, 10 g fat, 1 g carbs, <1 g sugar and 12 g protein.
I brought these bites to a ladies brunch today and everyone raved about them. The words used to describe them were, “Better than Starbucks.” Hell yeah!
Recipe rating:
Food Snob 