These Quiche Toast Cups are made using sandwich bread, filled with a quiche mixture made with eggs, bacon, onion and cheese. Who can resist these cute little bites?
Quiche Toast Cups
I love quiche, but I don’t usually have ready made pastry in stock, and it is even rarer that I attempt to make pastry. So this is my way of making mini quiches – using toast cups made with sandwich bread. I didn’t do a very good job of pressing the bread into the muffin tin, as you can see from the squiggly shape of my toast cups. I was tempted to call these “Mini Quiche Flower Cups” and make you think I did these deliberately (“Perfect for your little girls’ next birthday party!”) but then I thought I had better own up to the fact that I just did a bad job. 🙂
But it definitely didn’t affect the flavour and in fact it meant there were more crunchy ridges on the Quiche Toast Cups.
So – there’s one big “must do” with making these cute little cheesy bites. You must, must, must pop the toast cups into the oven for a few minutes before pouring the egg mixture in. Otherwise the egg mixture will just get sucked right into the bread and you’ll end up with soggy cups rather than toast cups filled with cheesy quiche filling. I’m speaking from experience here.
I tried to get around this problem by using stale bread, thinking that it wouldn’t absorb as much of the egg mixture. Total failure. Firstly, the bread was so dry I couldn’t flatten it, it just kept springing back up to it’s original thickness. I even beat the bread with a meat mallet in frustration and it still didn’t work – actually, it kind of disintegrated it and I had bits of crumbs flying everywhere.
Secondly, if you try to mould stale bread into the muffin tin, you’ll find out that it’s impossible. Because it’s stale, it’s not pliable so as I attempted to coax it into the muffin tin, it just crumbled and there were more crumbs everywhere. True story. It was like a bread crumb bomb had landed in my kitchen.
So I hauled myself down to the supermarket just to get a single loaf of bread so I wouldn’t waste the filling that I’d already prepared. And that’s when everything came together for the Quiche Toast Cups. I tried the brief baking method to dry out the toast cups and it worked perfectly. I was a very happy gal.
Enough about my kitchen disasters! Here’s the recipe. A great little treat to pop for your next brunch!
Some more mini one-bite Appetizers!
- Spicy Little Muffin Tin Chicken Tostadas
- Smoked Salmon Appetizer Bites
- Mini Pizza Potato Skins
- Vegetarian Garlic Stuffed Mushrooms
- Prawn / Shrimp Taco Appetizers
- Thai Chicken Salad Wonton Cups and Caesar Salad Wonton Cups
- Browse all Party Food
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Quiche Toast Cups
Ingredients
- 1 rasher of bacon , rind removed, diced (50g / 1.5 oz)
- 1/4 onion , finely diced (brown, white or yellow)
- 1 tsp oil
- 6 slices white sandwich bread (fresh)
- 2 regular size eggs (or 3 small)
- 2/3 cup milk
- 1/3 cup cheese , grated (tasty, gruyere, cheddar - any good melting cheese)
- 2 tsp parsley , finely chopped
- Salt and pepper
- Oil spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
- Heat 1 tsp oil in small pan over high heat. Add onion and bacon and sauté until bacon is crisp - about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside (you can just leave it in the pan).
- Cut bread into rounds or just cut crusts off. I use a 800g/28oz tomato can (emptied and washed) - the perfect size to cut rounds to fit into muffin tins out of bread, pastry etc.
- Use a rolling pin to flatten the bread.
- Lightly spray 6 muffin tin holes with oil spray, then press the bread into the muffin tin.
- Place in oven for 3 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside. The toast cups should not be browned, just a bit dry (like "toast").
- Whisk together the egg, milk, parsley and a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Divide the bacon mixture between the 6 toast cups, then the cheese.
- Pour 2 1/2 tbsp of egg mixture into each cup, then immediately place in the oven. If you take too long between pouring the egg mixture into the toast cups and putting it in the oven, the egg will start soaking into the bread.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the top is lightly golden and the filling is set.
- Remove from oven and rest for 5 minutes before serving. The filling will be puffed up but it will deflate while resting.
- Garnish with extra parsley if desired. Serve warm.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Hi, Can this be baked way ahead and just warm up in the toaster before the guest arrive?
Absolutely! 🙂 N x
This recipe looks like the perfect solution for all the bread I have left over from a chorus tea.
Can the bread cups be made a day or two ahead of time, and then filled and baked?
Also, I saw someone else ask about freezing and reheating filled cups. I’ve never done that before. How is that done, time and temperature-wise?
Thank you so much for sharing these wonderful ideas of yours!
Gosh yes that’s a great idea! Bake the cups first then store in an airtight container. Though yes I think freezing will be fine too because this is effectively just a quiche! N x
I make these I lightly toast my cups I put cut up bacon in skillet with onion and green pepper then drain grease off add eggs and scramble them up in bacon mixture then fill each cup and top with cheese you can pop them in oven then just to melt cheese I make about twenty and fill them and put them in a two gallon frezzer bag and take a few out at a time to heat in oven my kids like them cause I fill them also with pizza stuff and they can heat them in microwave or oven when they won’t some
Love hearing that Shelia! N x
Hi Nagi
Will this stay well for a bake sale or do they become soggy?
Unfortunately they do go a bit soggy 🙂 N x
Love your Website. I Love this recipe. Was thinking I could also use Raisin Bread instead of pastry for sweet pies.
What an AWESOME IDEA!!!
Made these, I actually used brown bread and was expecting a disaster, but it turened out pretty well. I also used tuna instead of bacon.. will be making these to impress some friends soon
I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the Syl! N xx
Thanks for the idea! I made it with milk-loaf and ham after Easter. 🙂
Your photos are amazing! 🙂
http://suniskanal.blogspot.hu/2017/04/sonkas-hagymas-kalacsfeszek.html
WHOOT! So pleased to hear that Gabi, thank you for letting me know! N xx
This looks very good. Is it possible to make it in a toaster oven, instead of conventional oven?
Thank you,
Mamta
Hi Mamta! I’m sorry to say I am not sure, I’ve never tried it. N x
I make in mini muffin pans to serve as appetizers. I use a drinking glass to cut the bread and spread with butter so that it doesn’t soak up the egg mixture. Crab meat quiche are the best!
Oooooooh!! YES to crab quiche!!! N xx
Hi from UK Nagi, thank you for the lovely recipe – I cannot wait to try it out. More importantly, thank you, thank you, thank you for telling us about the failures because people like me who are not good (or inventive) cooks, or beginners, often try to take the same type of shortcuts with equally messy results and these may be people who cannot afford such a waste – pensioners like myself for example. I read a page of great comments, so I know I could butter the bread, too.
You’re welcome Fred! Honestly, I have so many blunders in the kitchen because I really like experimenting 🙂 Mind you, it is very rare that failures don’t get consumed!
Hamburger buns also worked great. No trimming required. Thanks.
You’re a GENIUS. Mind boggling with the possibilities
The idea is fantastic. I made my own little tweaks and changes with the recipe though but it still came out fantastic!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this Jenna! 🙂 N x
Thank you, thank you, thank you. for including nutrition information. I may actually try this .
No worries Helen! Hope you enjoy it!
yum, i’e not had quiche in ages, thnaks for sharing this recipe.
Simon
No worries! N x
Hi. Can you use the mini pie crust?? Instead of bread.
Gosh you sure can Liz! 🙂
I have a lot to say about this recipe, but I don’t think I have enough room to write it all, so I’ll keep in short:
The first (and so far the only) time I tried this, I was helping to make brunch for 60 people. I found this recipe, and it seemed simple enough, so I scaled it up by a factor of ten. I made two flavors: sausage/cheddar/onion and spinach/tomato/Parmesan. People generally enjoyed them; I even got a few questions such as “You MADE these?”
Advice:
– microwave the bread prior to rolling it flat
– the more you make, the less ingredients you’ll need. I had more than a liter of quiche liquid left
– the 28oz can was too big for the polish potato bread I used. Make sure the bread is big enough
– when using veggies, make sure they’re dry. Squeeze the liquid out of spinach, and press it out of tomatoes, etc
– I found I had to increase the salt, though maybe this is just the way I prefer quiche
– substitute some of the milk with heavy cream. I think I ended up using 2-to-5 cream/milk. Tasted great.
– I had to cook these for almost 18 minutes, though this might have been due to my oven bring FULL of pans
Overall, I will make these again. They’re tasty and easy on a small scale – a bit less so on a large scale 🙂
Thanks!
Woah! You made TEN BATCHES?? You rock! I’m so glad you enjoyed it and thank you SO MUCH for those wonderful tips Jon! N x
you can use stale bread by putting in the oven with a cup of water beside it, the bread becomes as fresh as ever with 1 to 2 minutes of microwaving and use in the recipe.
Woah! That’s such a cool tip, THANKS!! 🙂
..on the way home from the store, I will do these for new years eve party 🙂
I look forward to hearing what you THINK!!! 🙂
My mother in law used to tell me to keep bread from soaking spread with butter or margarine. I will try this see if it works.
It does! I keep meaning to update this post with new step photos! 🙂
Would it work best to spread with margarine before toasting the bread or after? Thanks :0)
Before! 🙂 N xx
This looks easy and tasty. Please send the recipe
This looks interesting, Please send.
If I need to make some in advance can I freeze them, as I have frozen quiche before with success.
Hi Kaye! You sure can! Just like normal quiche!
These r so good!!! Everyone loved them, all you could hear was moaning as people where eating them lol.!!! Thank u!!!
That is quite a compliment! HA!!! I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much!!