Cheesy hash brown muffins with bacon

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Have you ever woken up in the morning with a powerful urge to make one very specific thing for breakfast?

That's how I ended up making these hash brown muffins.

I woke up last weekend and all I could think about were crispy hash browns mixed with eggs, gooey melted cheese and crisp bits of smoky bacon.

Why? No idea.

Most of the recipes I found for hash brown muffins call for frozen hash browns, which, as my friend Don Odiorne at the Idaho Potato Commission informed me, are par-cooked and therefore drier than grated fresh potatoes. I only had fresh potatoes in the house. Don advised me to grate them and then squeeze the moisture out by wringing them in a clean towel.

Sound advice, I'm sure. Which I ignored. Because it was Sunday morning and I was just plain lazy. Guess what? Didn't matter. They turned out just right.

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Hash brown muffins with bacon

by Erika Kerekes January-14-2013

Crispy shredded potatoes, gooey melted cheese and crispy bits of bacon, all bound together with beaten eggs - that's my idea of a good breakfast.

Ingredients

• 2 large large Russet potatoes, skin on, scrubbed and grated
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/2 cups Cheddar cheese, grated, divided (substitute mozzarella, Monterey jack, or pepper jack)
• 6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• freshly ground pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.In a large bowl, mix the potatoes, eggs, 1 cup of the cheese, bacon and green onions. Add salt and a healthy dose of ground pepper.Divide the potato mixture evenly among the 12 muffins cups. Bake 25 minutes, then remove the pan from the oven and divide the remaining 1/2 cup cheese over the tops of the muffins. Return the pan to the oven and bake another 10 minutes.Cool the hash brown muffins in the pan 5 minutes. To unmold, use an offset spatula or butter knife to loosen each muffin and gently lift it out of the pan.Serve hot or warm. Can be reheated in the oven or microwave (although the muffins will get a little soggy in the microwave - don't overdo it).

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 35 mins Total time: 50 mins Yield: 12 muffins