If the name isn’t enough to catch your attention the taste of this will. It’s called eggs in clouds for a reason. Stiff white peaks from whipped egg whites mixed with a happy marriage of crumbled bacon, cheese and chives form the base of this wonderful, wonderful creation. It’s puffy. It’s dreamy. It’s like biting into a cloud.
And if that isn’t enough, the lonely egg yolks are nestled beautifully in the middle of these clouds and baked until just set.
It’s the perfect breakfast.
And you don’t have to be a Care Bear to enjoy it.
Oh and it’s 161 calories per cloud. Just like a cloud should be. Light, airy and low on calories!
Now I seem to have a thing for eggs nestled in other things. I’m starting to come to terms with my mini obsession. It started when I nestled my eggs in potato bowls. And apparently that wasn’t enough because it continued with eggs nestled in hash brown cups. And now I’m igniting my egg nestling passion once again with eggs nestled in-well, eggs.
Mind blown.
And here’s the best part. There’s only four ingredients to create this wonder dish. Four. I used to turn my nose up at recipes that had less than 10 ingredients (it was easier to do when 7 of them were spices in Indian recipes). But now, now I’m starting to realize the beauty in simplicity. And while the idea of a four ingredient recipe sounds awfully dull on pen and paper, in your mouth it will be anything but.
When I came across this recipe from Rachael Ray, this muted excitement started building in my food blogging heart. Suddenly all the recipes I had planned for the week paled by comparison. All I could think of was my clouds. If we want to be corny and let me have my obligatory bad joke routine, I would say I had my head in the clouds. Okay, I know that was bad but I’m still grinning while typing this.
Still grinning.
Whoo! Need to wipe this stupid grin off my face. Okay so let talk technique. When I heard of whipping egg whites my heart sank a little. In fact, I may have navigated away from the page in disappointment. I don’t bake. I don’t have the kind of equipment needed to do all that fancy stuff. But in a last bid to save my clouds, I Googled whipping it by hand. And this YouTube video saved me. He made it look doable and broke down the chemistry of it so that even a newbie like me could understand.
Back to the page with renewed hope. No chives and Parmesan at hand so I had to wait for a grocery trip. But now that trip is done, I am ready to make my clouds. Whipping the egg whites by hand was a work out. I may have had hand cramps. But it was so worth it. If you do have the tools for it though, use them! Unless you want to build that wrist strength and chance your hand falling off. My egg whites could have been a little stiffer but my hand was done. Worth it though. My clouds are finally done.
So here we go!
Be still my egg nesting heart.
PrintEggs in Clouds
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
- 1/4 cup chives, chopped
- 3 strips cooked bacon, crumbled
- Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Separate egg yolks and whites, putting the whites in one large metal bowl and the yolks in the broken shells or 4 separate bowls
- In a metal mixing bowl, whip the whites until stiff peaks form
- Carefully fold in the cheese, chives and bacon
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spoon 4 mounds of whipped egg whites
- Make a deep well in the center of each with the back of a spoon
- Bake at 450 degrees F for 3 minutes and remove from oven
- Add one yolk to each well and season with pepper
- Return to oven and bake until yolks set, about 2-3 minutes for a soft egg yolk
Notes
Adapted from Everyday with Rachael Ray.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
Comments & Reviews
Jessica says
Nice recipe!! So quick and easy. I made a couple changes – I actually added a bit more whites (from an egg whites carton) to the separated whites, for more protein essentially. It made HUGE clouds!! I also used leeks to mix in and just topped in a bit of cheese to save in kcal and then it got nice and brown. As a vegetarian I used a soy bacon. But really good. Fun. I think my husband said ‘impressive’
The Cooking Jar says
Nice substitutions! I wish I could have seen your big clouds 🙂 Leeks will be awesome with this as a substitute for chives. Never tried soy bacon before though!
cpragz says
Love these! I have made them several times now. I use a little cooking spray on foil so they never stick. I have also subbed in and out different ingredients, making sure to keep everything small in order to not weigh down the eggs. I have not used different cheese, don’t know if it would be too heavy, unless you’d make it a crumble rather than shred. Don’t want to crush the egg white 🙂
The Cooking Jar says
Thanks for weighing in! I think I’ll change the instructions to use foil since everyone is having success with these. You’re right about keeping the rest of the ingredients light, folding it in too aggressively or using heavy ingredients might upset the egg whites.
The Cooking Jar says
Interesting to know, Blue! That caramel version made me drool a little bit. I’d LOVE to try this one day.
Catherine says
Can I use a different type of cheese like mozzarella? Also can I refrigerate these and reheat them throughout the week? Thanks!
The Cooking Jar says
Honestly, I don’t think mozzarella would work very well. But I could be wrong. If you’re willing enough to give it a try, I’d love to hear the results. I think you can refrigerate these and heat them up maybe up to 1-2 days at most. Just be careful microwaving, if you heat it up that way. Do it in small increments so the egg doesn’t explode!
Mia says
I tried making these, but the egg white mixture with the parmesan turned out to be more liquid than I wanted. 🙁
The Cooking Jar says
If you whipped the egg whites till they were stiff and they liquefied after you folded in the rest of the ingredients, I think the problem was over-mixing it. I heard that can cause it the whites to break down. Sorry to hear that happened to you, Mia!
Geri says
Love this recipe but…..Mine stuck to the parchment paper. I had put olive oil on the paper but that didn’t work. Any tips? 🙂
The Cooking Jar says
Hmm, mine didn’t stick so I’m at a loss! Someone tried foil instead of parchment paper and sprayed it before hand. Maybe try this method?
Colleen Pragalz says
These were delicious!~tried them with ham instead of bacon. Definitely recommend a little cooking spray on the foil. We are opening a bed and breakfast~these will be an adorable staple!
The Cooking Jar says
Thanks for saying so, Colleen! I hope your guests enjoy it at your bed and breakfast!
Linou says
These were very easy and tasty however I had to cook them for much longer as my husband who usually prefers runny yolks (took them out at 3 minute mark) did not like the texture as they were too “spongy” so I put them in for an extra 8 minutes…
The Cooking Jar says
I’m glad they still worked out for you, Linou. Sometimes baking time varies by oven. I’m not sure why and it’s thoroughly confusing. It could also be based on where you put it on the rack. But I’m happy you got it the way you like it. Thanks for letting me know!
Josh says
I just tried to make these for my girlfriend for breakfast. It only took me 6 eggs to get 4 unbroken yolks, and I beat the egg whites flawlessly (which I was totally proud of), but when it came time to fold the rest of the ingredients in, the whites totally lost their texture and turned to soup! What did I do wrong? I still managed to cook it into the tastiest scrambled eggs we’ve ever had, so it was an overall win!
The Cooking Jar says
I did some research and it seems it could be one of three things; you could have over-beaten it, you could have folded in the ingredients too much or too many times or it sat out for too long. Here’s a great article about all the possible things that could have gone wrong. I’m glad you managed to salvage it though!
Min says
Simplicity at its best! Haha you cracked me up with – “you don’t have to be a carebear to enjoy it.” Love your sense of humor ;). I don’t have the right tools either so it will be a workout for me as well. 4 ingredients…swoon! Gorgeous photos, my friend! Stunning…
The Cooking Jar says
I try! I may make an awful lot of bad jokes but hey, I try! 🙂 Good luck to your hand and remember to breathe during!
Sarah@WholeandHeavenlyOven says
These clouds are totally gorgeous! I can hardly believe how perfectly cooked that egg looks. Definitely gonna have to try this one for sure! Pinned. 🙂
The Cooking Jar says
It’s really easy to get it to look that way, and if you have a mixer, even easier! Thanks, Sarah!
Muna Kenny says
They look gorgeous! Whipping egg whites is no problem with my electric mixer, I’m ready to make it 🙂
I pamper my self with great breakfast mostly on weekends, and I will sure give this a try. Your clicks are beautiful Farah!
The Cooking Jar says
Oh sure, show off your electric mixer, why don’t you! Kidding 🙂 Have a great weekend with this, Muna!
Paula says
I saw this post on foodgawker and I’m in love! I am definitely trying this for breakfast Sunday morning 🙂 Thanks for the great healthy idea!
The Cooking Jar says
Glad to give you some Sunday breakfast inspiration, Paula!
Nagi {RecipeTin Eats} says
You got it – the name caught my attention!! This reminds me of that French dish, can’t for the life of me remember what it is called (nouvolene? Something like that) but it basically means “clouds” and is made in a similar way. Love how unique this is!!
The Cooking Jar says
It’s one of a kind, isn’t it? 🙂
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
definitely need to try these cute little eggs in clouds for breakfast. they look delicious!
The Cooking Jar says
They were more delicious than egg whites should be!
janelle says
These pillows are darling. Great recipe!
The Cooking Jar says
Aren’t they the cutest? 🙂