Egg-in-a-Hole Recipe (2024)

I'm 85, and this was old when I was a kid. I butter the bread first by rubbing the stick of butter on both sides of frozen bread slices. A light sprinkle of cayenne pepper or smoked pimentón or smoked ground chipotle on the egg before flipping adds some spice and eliminates the need for salt. I then top with a fast melting cheese and cover the pan for half a minute to give the whole thing a gooey, unctuous deliciousness.

Suggest instead of flipping the egg over, baste the top o the egg with butter a few times until the top is set. It is much easier and prevents the yolk from cracking. I believe I saw this tip in America's Test Kitchen a number of years ago.

We called them basket eggs. No need for a cookie cutter. Pull out some bread in the middle of a slice with your fingers and pop it in the mouth of a waiting child.

My grandmother was from Italy and she made this for us 55 years ago. She called it "bird in the nest", and she used olive oil, not butter....delicious and I still cook it to this day.

This is my favorite breakfast but I take it a few steps further. After flipping, I place 1/2 cup of shredded cheese on top and cover, turn off the heat and let sit til cheese melts then top with dried dill.

I drizzle a little bit of Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco sauce on the bread first, then butter both sides of the bread before placing it on the grill. I also separate the egg, add fresh, chopped basil and feta cheese to the egg white, gently fold, add a small amount of butter to the hole, then add the egg white mixture into the hole. Let this cook for a couple of minutes, then add the yolk. Flip and cook until desired firmness.

We have made a version of this for many years. We cook the cut-out bread portion with the bread, break the egg right into the hole, breaking the yolk. When the egg is just short of done, we put the cut-out break on top of it so it looks like a hat. We call it a "Walter Winchell"

When I was growing up, this was called "frog in the pond". The child whose breakfast this would become helped by folding the slice of bread in half and biting a hole in it. Mama did the rest.

This is the same breakfast cooked by Olympia Dukakis for her daughter, Cher, in the great movie "Moonstruck". Looked as good then, as now. Sprinkle bacon bits on the yolk, it is an Egg with Easter Hat.

My college roommate taught me how to make these over 40 years ago. They're a light evening meal indulgence. In our family, we call them Full Moon over Miami. My roommate called them One-eyed Egyptians. I use a one-shot glass jigger to make the hole and fry the cut-out hole, too.

Cooking for three minutes on each side was too much ... I had to cut to about a minute or minute and a half. Additionally, 1 tablespoon is a lot of butter, especially when making more than one. I used about 1/4 of the recommended amount and still delicious.

An even better way for both beautiful presentation and cooking perfection is to separate the egg, toast the bread as described here, then pour the white into the well. Cook for 2 minutes and flip. Then immediately place the unbroken yoke into the well on top of the hot, cooked white, season with pepper and coarse salt, tightly cover and turn off heat for 1 minute before serving.

I cut the hole and leave that piece in the pan a bit to toast up, just a little. But instead of flipping the egg, I put a small lid over it to cook the egg through without having to flip it. Lots of "juice," as my son called it and perfectly done whites. Anyway, you do it or, however you name it, it's a great fun breakfast.

We made these at summer camp in Colorado back in the 60’s. We called them Goober Eggs and added 2 strips of bacon and a slice of cheese on top. Great memories. Gotta make some now!

We called this Eggs Egyptian. No idea why. I recently invented a variation- put 2 eggs in a bowl, take out some of the egg whites carefully with a spoon and discard. For those of you who want more yolk. And who doesn’t?

Grandpa made these all the time back in the seventies, he called them Gaslight Eggs—no clue why, but always loved how pretty it sounded! There seem to be as many names for these as there are people out there making them, I’ve heard Shotglass Eggs & Egg in a Blanket too. I grew up on them, as it was one of the first recipes I learned how to make on my own. Still love making them as a treat on weekends for the grandkids.

My mother made this for us often when we were children and called it Egg In A Basket. I am 76 years old. She made it with 2 slices of white bread; the top slice with a hole in it for the egg. She cooked it in butter YUM in a fry pan and flipped it to make a once over easy egg. I still make it as a comfort food meal to this day!

A shot glass is the perfect hole cutter. After breaking the egg, covering the pan will help the egg cook more quickly. I also toast the bread first.

I use a metal jigger to make the hole—it’s only slightly larger than the yolk so the white spreads out on top of the bread and soaks in a bit. For this reason I also crack the egg in before the toast is flipped. Once it’s fried in butter it’s not going to absorb the white as well.

My dad used to make us this as kids, but the nyt got the name wrong. After it is finished cooking you put the little bread round you cut out on top of the egg and voila you now have "egg with a hat".

I never heard of these when I was a kid growing up in New England. They have them in Canada, and I’ve enjoyed them here for the last 30 years. Can’t beat the delicious simplicity of an egg in the hole.

I’ve been making this “Toad in the Hole” for decades! I recently draped a couple slices of prosciutto over the finished dish, along with a dollop of creamy burrata, and drizzled some homemade chopped basil in olive oil on top. Delicious!

For Star Wars fans: Use bread, probably rye because of the loaf shape (or make your own.) Make Tatooine Eggs by breaking TWO holes into the bread. You don't need a cookie cutter because the bread will always be very cooperative. Toast the "holes" and set them atop the finished product. I used to make this to share with my three Wonderdogs, Daisy, Muddy, and Pepper. Who also loved to eat the peelings from carrots whenever that happened in my kitchen. Sigh.Trudi Bird

Doggie in the Window in my family. Making this for dinner tonight.

Old timey breakfast treat from childhood, which we knew as elephant’s eye egg. Use any cup or glass upside down to press into the bread center to make the eye. That little round made the most fun toast!

We called this Toad in the Hole. When we were very good (and young) we sometimes got Toad in the Hole without the toad - essentially fried bread with a hole in the middle. Plus the fried cutout - non- negotiable. My only substantive contribution here is to sprinkle the cooked egg and bread with Everything bagel seasoning. Perfect little bites of extra flavor!

Also! Make a truly unhealthy but happy meal - make 2 toads (eggs) in the hole, flip both, put a slice of cheese on one and then stack the slices - Toad in the hole grilled cheese!

We used to separate the egg, then beat the white to add as a top after the yolk goes into the hole in the toast. So obviously no flipping. We called it Sunny Day Egg!