Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Breakfast Sandwiches

Fast food breakfast sandwiches are my weakness--I'm looking at you mcmuffin!  And while I'm perfectly ok with eating one every once in a while, I often find myself wanting one on the way to work in the morning--that is not every once in a while.

So I set out to create a very suitable breakfast sandwich copy cat that would be healthier, as well as having no artificial ingredients.  And  these breakfast sandwiches fit the bill.  The sausage is crispy, the eggs are silky and soft, and the whole wheat English muffins are soft and hearty.

The sausage, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwiches keep me full until lunch.  They are full of protein and so tasty and satisfying.  They are also perfect to alternate with my normal Greek yogurt and fruit breakfast; sometimes I need something a little heartier for breakfast.

Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Breakfast Sandwiches
author: Happy Food Happy Home
makes 8 sandwiches

8 whole wheat English Muffins
8 sausage patties
8 baked eggs (see below)
8 slices of cheese

1. Use a fork to slice the muffins in half.
2. Fill each muffin with a sausage patty, an egg, and a slice of cheese.
3. To prep for the freezer rip 8 sheets of wax paper into 8 inch squares.
4. Wrap each sandwich in the wax paper.  Fold a corner over the sandwich, the two side corners in, then roll the sandwich into the rest of the paper.  Use a piece of tape to seal the paper closed. 
5. Place the sandwiches in a gallon ziplock bag, squeeze out the air and put in the freezer.
6. When you're ready to eat the breakfast sandwiches, remove the tape.  Microwave the sandwich for 45 seconds, then flip and microwave for 45 more seconds.  You might have to add up to 30 more seconds based on your microwave.  

Note: If you are prepping these for the freezer make sure the English Muffins, sausage patties, and eggs are at room temperature or are cold.  Don't put them together warm or they will condensate and get freezer-burnt.
Note 2: You can totally skip freezing these; just combine everything and eat.  I would toast the English muffins, then combine the hot sausage and egg, and put the cheese on top. If needed you can bake the sandwiches for 5 minutes to help melt the cheese. 

Baked Eggs--for Breakfast Sandwiches

author: Happy Food Happy Home

makes as many eggs as you want

Eggs

Cooking Spray

Salt and Pepper

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Oil the inside of your baking ramekins-1 per egg.
2. Crack an egg into the baking ramekin.  Use a butter knife to break and swirl the egg yolk through the white.
3. Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Place ramekins in the oven for 8-12 minutes, until eggs are set in the middle.  If you have lots of ramekins placing them on a baking sheet makes it easier to get them in and out of the oven. 
5. To remove the eggs from the ramekins run an offset spatula around the edge of the egg.  Then use the spatula to gently lift the egg round from ramekin.  
6. Transfer directly onto a breakfast sandwich or to a plate to cool! 

Sausage, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwiches are the perfect grab-and-go breakfast.  They have a ton of protein to keep you full until lunch, and they are really really yummy!  Maybe even gasp better than McMuffins! You should totally try these breakfast sandwiches.  They will make you happy in the morning.  If only they would help me get out of bed on time...

Thin and Crispy Sausage Patties

I love the thin and crispy sausage patties classically found on fast food breakfast sandwiches.  I'm not sure I want to think about how much of those patties is actually sausage, but I set out to create crispy sausage patties that would be perfect for my homemade breakfast sandwiches.  

However there was a problem--sausage does not like to stick together.  In fact it really wants to fall apart all over the place.  (Attempt one was a disaster lol.)  So I added some binders--an egg and a little flour.  And it worked! Thin and crispy sausage patties just perfect for putting on a breakfast sandwich.  The patties are crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, and best of all they hold together!

Come back tomorrow and see how I combined the English muffins, these sausage patties, and baked eggs into delicious breakfast sandwiches.

Thin and Crispy Sausage Patties

author: Happy Food Happy Home

makes 8-10 patties

1 pound ground pork breakfast sausage

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon flour

oil for cooking (optional)

1. Heat a dutch oven or cast iron skillet over medium heat.  If your sausage is lean add 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan.
2. Use your hands to combine the sausage, egg and flour until fully mixed. 
3. Divide the sausage into 8 or 10 even pieces.  Use your hands to gently press the sausage into a patty.  Flip the patty into the skillet and carefully spread the patty thinner; use a silicone spatula or your fingers carefully!
4. Let patties cook until bottoms are browned and then flip.  Cook until the other side is browned and the patties are cooked through.
5. Transfer cooked patties to a paper towel lined plate and then eat! 

Tomorrow I'm sharing the breakfast sandwiches that all the cooking this week culminated in!  The breakfast sandwiches go straight from the freezer to the microwave to the belly.  They are delicious and easy and totally do these sausage patties justice!

Whole Wheat English Muffins

I love English muffins by themselves; coated with butter, or jam, or (personal favorite!) apple butter!  I love the little crevices that the toppings can nest inside, the light and chewy texture, and how versatile English Muffins are!

I made these English muffins with the express purpose of making breakfast sandwiches.  McDonald's egg mcmuffins are a weakness of mine, and I often find myself wanting to stop on the way to work.  In order to resist the temptation I made English muffins.

I wanted to see if I could make English muffins; it was an interesting challenge because even though English muffins are not difficult to make, they do have a few steps.  And I'd never made them before!

I think the trickiest part of making the English muffins was making sure the bottoms didn't burn.  I might have blackened a few of them instead of browning--oops.  I watched the next batch more closely and no burned bottoms!

Whole Wheat English Muffins

Author: Happy Food Happy Home

makes 8-10 muffins

1 cup milk, heated to 100 degrees

1 ½ teaspoons yeast

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons sugar

½ teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 egg

vegetable oil

cornmeal

1. Whisk together the warm milk and the yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Let sit and bloom for 5 minutes.
2. Whisk together the flours, sugar, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. 
3. Cube the butter into small cubes and add to the stand mixer bowl. 
4. Gently beat egg and add to the stand mixer bowl.
5. Add the dry ingredients in two batches and mix until just combined. 
6. Switch to the dough hook and mix for approximately 5 minutes until the dough pulls away from the bowl and is smooth and shiny.
1. Alternatively, use a wooden spoon to stir the milk and yeast, egg, butter, and dry ingredients until just combined.  Transfer dough to a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes until dough is smooth and shiny.
7. Oil a medium mixing bowl.  Transfer the dough to the oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Let rise for 1 hour until the dough doubles in size.
8. Divide the dough into 8 pieces for large muffins, or 10 pieces for medium sized.  Oil your hands and shape each piece into a ball.  Flatten the balls until they are about ½ an inch thick. 
9. Place the rounds on a cornmeal dusted cookie sheet.  Dust the tops with more cornmeal.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes. 
10. Heat a dry cast iron skillet over medium heat.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and place the cornmeal lined baking sheet in the oven.. 
11. Cook each dough ball for about 5 minutes per side.  The sides will brown quickly; let them sit for about 5 minutes, but watch that they don't burn.  If you turn them over too soon they can fall flat.
12. Once both sides of the muffins are browned transfer them to the baking sheet in the oven.  Let bake for about 5 minutes until the middles are cooked.  They will read 200 degrees on an instant read thermometer. 
1. Note:  If you have more muffins than will fit in your cast iron skillet you can cook them in batches.  Just be sure to transfer the muffins to the oven immediately  after browning-don't wait!
13. Remove the muffins to a cooling rack and let cool.  Use a fork to split the muffins, coat spread with in butter, and devour! 

English muffins are so yummy!  They were really fun to make; I totally enjoyed my kitchen adventure making English muffins.  And they were delicious to eat! 

Check out the finished breakfast sandwiches!

How to Clean and Care for a Wood Cutting Board

My best friend in the kitchen is my giant wooden cutting board.  It's literally huge, and I literally use it every time I cook.  My cutting board has his own spot on the counter-right between the stove and the sink.  It is the perfect prep spot and the cutting board let's me do all my work in one spot.

After!

I use my cutting board to chop and, for gathering my mis en place, and as a general spot to sit anything and everything.  I also use him as a back drop for food photos, and occasionally as a hot pad. 

As a result of all this hard work my cutting board was in need of a deep cleaning and an oiling.  (He was getting kind of grungy.)

Follow these steps for a great looking and working wooden cutting board.  If you take good care of the cutting boards they should last a really really long time.  

How to Clean and Care for A wooden Cutting Board

Author: Happy Food Happy Home

Supplies

Wooden Cutting Board

220 grit sandpaper

sanding block

Lemon

Kosher Salt

Coconut Oil

Paper Towels or a clean dry cloth

1. Optional-If needed use the sanding block and sandpaper to sand the surface of your cutting board.  Sanding will help remove stains, buff out knife scratches, and smooth the surface of your cutting board.  Don't try to be perfect--you might end up with an uneven surface; just lightly sand the surface. Use a damp paper towel to wipe off the sawdust.
2. Cut the lemon in half.  Pour a teaspoon of salt onto the surface of the cutting board. Use the lemon half to scrub the salt into the cutting board, focusing on stains.  Cover the surface of the cutting board with the lemon juice-salt mixture.  Flip the board over and repeat on the other side with an additional teaspoon of salt.  Let the cutting board sit for approximately 5 minutes.
3. Thoroughly rinse the cutting board and allow it to air dry completely.
4. Using your hands massage about 1 tablespoon of coconut oil into each side of the cutting board.  Flip the board over onto a towel before doing the second side.  Let the board sit overnight to allow it to absorb all the oil it can. 
5. After its overnight soak use paper towels to buff the excess coconut oil off of the board. If your board is dry, repeat the coconut oil massage and allow to sit again.   

Your board is ready for use!  To keep clean day to day rinse your cutting board after every use.  If you cut meat on your wood surface use soap to wash before using with other ingredients. Allow board to dry out between washings-if the board gets water inside it may crack. 

You can oil your board once or twice a month, or you can wait longer. Just follow steps 2-6 for a great looking wooden cutting board.  My cutting board was really overdue for a good cleaning and oiling, but looks wonderful now!  I would recommend only sanding about once a year-if you sand too often there won't be anything left of your cutting board!

Just a note:  I bought my wooden cutting board at a kitchen supply store.  It was cheap-only 15 dollars-but a little rough.  I did an initial sanding to smooth out the roughness before I ever started using it.  After sanding it was as smooth as butter and functions just as well as a 100 dollar cutting board.