Copycat Denny's Moons Over My Hammy Recipe

Denny's is "America's diner," famous for their signature breakfast that's available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. They're well known for their Signature Slams and breakfast specialties. Their Moons Over My Hammy sandwich is a classic — it's either a grilled cheese that's also a breakfast sandwich, or a breakfast sandwich that's also sort of a grilled cheese. It's big, it's decadent, it's cheesy, and it's very easy to make it at home, thanks to this copycat Moons Over My Hammy recipe from recipe developer and photographer Susan Olayinka.

Why bother making this at home when you could just go to Denny's, you ask? When cooking at home, you can choose to use higher quality ingredients and modify for food allergies or for preferences. "Readers can definitely add spicy sausage to this to make it a bit more different, or somebody can even do a vegetarian one and use a vegetarian ham substitute," Olayinka says.

Making copycat versions of restaurant dishes also saves you the inconvenience of having to leave your kitchen. You only need a handful of basic ingredients, 15 minutes, and enough patience to let cheese melt. Let's get started!

To get as close to the taste of the Moons Over My Hammy sandwich that Denny's makes, you'll need 2 slices of sourdough bread. This is a breakfast sandwich, so you're also going to need eggs, meat, and cheese. For meat, this recipe calls for 4 slices of ham. You'll also need Swiss cheese and American cheese if you really want that Denny's taste. And to properly toast the sandwich in the skillet, you'll also need some butter.

This first step to making the copycat Moons Over My Hammy sandwich is simple but very important: butter both sides of each piece of bread. "It really makes a difference and makes [the] sandwich less dry," says Olayinka. Use 2 tablespoons of butter on the bread, about a half tablespoon on each side. Then place another tablespoon of butter in a cast iron skillet, and turn the heat up to medium high.

You could say that this recipe comes down hard on the side of "butter" in the never ending mayonnaise vs. butter debate when it comes to which is best for making grilled cheese. Please don't skimp on the butter!

Beat your eggs in a bowl, and then pour them into the skillet to scramble. Once your eggs are scrambled, remove them from the skillet and set them aside. After scrambling the eggs, toast the slices of sourdough bread in the cast iron skillet on both sides. Butter's smoke point is much lower than other fats, such as vegetable oil or olive oil, so be sure to keep an eye on the skillet. Once each sides is nice and toasted, place the bread on a cutting board and get ready to assemble the sandwich.

Put the Swiss cheese, ham, scrambled eggs, and American cheese on one slice of bread and close the sandwich. Put the sandwich back in the skillet and toast over low heat for 1 minute on each side, or enough long enough for the cheese to melt. After the sandwich has been toasted, remove it from the skillet, cut it in half, and serve!

This is a breakfast sandwich, and while you don't have to eat it at breakfast, Olayinka recommends serving it with coffee, fruit juice, or fruit salad.