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What is it about mini things that makes them that much more appealing? Mini dogs. Mini phones. Mini pigs. Mini Coopers. Miniaturize anything and it becomes impossible to resist.
Well, maybe not mini dogs… I mean, I think they’re ridiculously cute and all, but only from a distance. Give me a huge hulking St. Bernard over a yappy little chihuahua any day.
The same can be said of food — we like the bite-sized variety best. Mini muffins. Finger sandwiches. Two-bite brownies. Small foods are just better. More enjoyable to eat.
I mean, just look at all the most popular snack foods. Two bites max. There are exceptions to the rule, of course, but for the most part, bite-sized is where it’s at.
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I actually got a chance to put my theory to the test at a holiday brunch I recently attended. My plan was to bring mini frittatas baked in muffin pans, but I had quite a few batches that I needed to whip up and only one measly muffin pan in my possession… which wouldn’t have been a problem if I hadn’t been short on time.
Unfortunately, I needed those frittatas yesterday, so I couldn’t exactly wait for them to cook a dozen at a time. Instead, I improvised and made half of them in my [highly-undervalued] mini muffin pan.
The result was a batch of irresistibly cute two-bite frittatas. And apparently I wasn’t the only one who thought so, because while they were made with exactly the same recipe and tasted pretty much identical, every.single.one of the mini mini ones got devoured, while a handful of the regular muffin-sized frittatas remained.
What’d I tell ya? Bite-sized is in.
And don’t worry if you don’t have a mini muffin pan on hand — they still taste amazing in a regular-sized muffin pan; they’re just not as irresistibly cute. But cute or not, frittatas make for a great breakfast or snack option.
They’re loaded with quality protein from the eggs, vitamins and minerals from the veggies, and if you make them in muffin tins (mini or otherwise), they become perfectly portable as well — great for when you’re short on time and need something that’s grab-n-go.
Another great thing about frittatas is that they’re completely customizable depending on your tastes. I love the combination of spinach, mushrooms, and feta, but you could easily toss in some broccoli, bell peppers, or even ham or bacon if you don’t need them to be vegetarian.
The possibilities are endless. That being said, I highly recommend going the spinach and feta route. It’s a good one, I promise.
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And to end on a somewhat unrelated note, can we please talk about how annoying the word “frittata” is? Because I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve misspelled that word while writing this post. Actually, thanks to the magic of Ctrl+F, I can…
Eleven. Eleven times I’ve spelled it “fritatta” instead of “frittata.” How embarrassing. And to make matters even worse, I also just misspelled embarrassing. Twice.
Try not to judge me too harshly, especially because I come bearing delicious f-r-i-t-t-a-t-a-s. Boom. Nailed it.
- 4 cups baby spinach
- 1 tsp. butter
- 1 medium portabello mushroom, chopped
- ¼ cup green onions, chopped
- 6 large eggs, beaten
- ½ cup 2% milk
- 3 Tbsp crumbled feta cheese
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground pepper
- Preheat oven to 375F and spray a mini muffin pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.
- Place spinach in a steamer set over boiling water, cover, and steam until just wilted, about 1 minute.
- Melt butter in a small pan set over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and cook until soft, about 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a separate bowl and add the wilted spinach and chopped green onions, mixing well.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, feta cheese, salt, and pepper. Divide the spinach, onion, and mushroom mixture evenly among the muffin tins, and use a ladle to spoon the egg mixture over top, filling about ¾ of the way full.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until eggs have set and edges begin to turn golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before removing from tins and serving.