Baked egg-in-a-hole with homemade multigrain

This recent breakfast was inspired by an email.  It was a New Year's day one from Cooking Light and there was this picture of an egg-in-a-hole in it.  It was the bread, or toast, in the picture that caught my attention because it was multigrain toast and I'd only just made my first loaf of multigrain bread. What perfect timing! So I took some of my multigrain bread and decided to get cracking (literally).

I'm sure you've seen egg-in-a-hole (or toad-in-a-hole, etc...) a million times.  Maybe like me, you've seen it but never actually made them?  Or is it just me?  Every Father's Day, I get the notion to make egg-in-a-hole as a fun little "special" breakfast but I never have.  I somehow figured I'd never be able to flip the egg and toast in the skillet and get it looking right (these are crazy things I "worry" about). And that brings me to another reason why this recipe appealed to me - it's baked egg-in-a-hole.  In other words, no flipping in the skillet!

Baking egg-in-a hole sounded like such a great idea to me.  It's a little lighter than sizzling them in an oil or butter-laden skillet.  It also means no flipping so you get a nice bright yolk front and center, and you can make quite a few all at the same time with minimal work.

It sounded so simple, and it was.  I lightly toasted my multigrain bread (luckily, I'd frozen about a third of my homemade loaf), then cut a 2 1/2 inch round from the center of each.  Lightly grease a baking sheet (I used olive oil) and set the bread on top.  Drop an egg in each and bake at 400 degrees for 5-8 minutes, until the egg whites are set but the yolk is still soft.  What you've essentially got is a sunny side up egg with toast for breakfast but in a fun little way.

I cooked some bacon alongside.  That makes my son very happy!  You could get a little fancier and dress your egg-in-a-hole up with some grated cheese and fresh herbs, and crumble crispy bacon or prosciutto over the top.  You can take it for any kind of spin you can think of but it's the general baked factor of this that I really like.  

Egg-in-a-hole is somehow simple yet special. You can use any kind of bread you like but I have to say multigrain toast goes so well here. You can really enjoy the nuttiness and flavor of the toast with the soft egg, without a lot of interference.  The multigrain is so flavorful, you don't really need or miss the butter (or maybe that's just me).  

I just love a good breakfast!