Making Eggs-In-A-Hole? Don't Waste Bread – Turn The Cutout Into Grilled Cheese

Egg in a hole — or, if you prefer a more artistic appellation, egg in a frame — is one of those breakfast standbys that's so easy that you don't even need a recipe, although numerous TikTokers, as well as big names like the Pioneer Woman, will still try to share theirs with you. While a recipe may be superfluous for anything so simple, there are still numerous tips, tricks, and tweaks that can turn this egg dish into something even more fun, such as one where you swap out the bread for a bagel. (A donut would also work if you're into sweet and savory breakfast combos.)

One idea we particularly like, since we're big on reducing food waste, is that of re-purposing that bit of bread that you cut out of the middle in order to provide a hole (or frame) for the egg. Sure, you can always store it in a bag in the freezer with other leftover bread pieces until you have enough to make croutons, bread pudding, or stuffing, but if you want to make use of it right away, we suggest melting some cheese on it to make a grilled cheese sandwich. In fact, if your pan is big enough, you can cook that little lagniappe right alongside the egg-in-toast.

If you're making two eggs in a hole, one TikTok video shows that the cutout bread is perfect for enclosing a Babybel cheese. Sandwich the Babybel between the bread circles, then pinch the edges to seal it into something resembling a DIY Uncrustable. Fry it up while playing peppy music to get the full TikTok experience.

If you're cooking just a single egg, here's a grilled cheese idea that's even more fun: Top that bread piece with any cheese you choose and pan-fry it until the cheese melts and the bottom is toasty. Use this round cheesy toast as a topper on your egg, and voila! You now have an egg with a hat, which was the name given to what is purported to be the first published recipe for an egg cooked inside a piece of bread.

While some sources credit this recipe to Fannie Farmer's 1896 "The Boston Cooking School Cook Book," it seems no such recipe appears in the digitized edition (or at least not under the name "egg with a hat"). Instead, it shows up in a revised edition published in 1950, so the credit should probably go to Farmer's posthumous collaborator Wilma Lord Perkins. Nor is it the first appearance of such a dish — in the 1941 movie "Moon Over Miami," it was called gashouse eggs. No matter its origin, egg in a hat still makes for a cute name and a tasty way to cheese up your eggs and toast.