French Baked Eggs

French Baked Eggs with creme fraiche or Oeufs en Cocotte, a simple but impressive restaurant-style breakfast or brunch recipe that is very easy to make at home. in under 20 minutes. This classic French dish is best served straight out of the oven with some crusty bread dipped into it. What a treat!

Classic recipes are hard to beat, they have withstood the test of time for a good reason. They are comforting and indulgent, and they know how to instantly bring happiness on anyone's face.

And these baked eggs do exactly that - they are incredibly delicious, and nutritious, and bonus point, they are really healthy too - my kind of breakfast for sure.

"Eggs en cocotte" means eggs in a pot, and while this is the very basic recipe, it can be made as simple or as loaded as you wish. Baking the eggs in individual pots in a water bath ensures that the eggs are always cooked to perfection.

The eggs are nice and runny, and have a similar texture to poached eggs, just a bit more fancy, so this is definitely a dish to impress your guests. No matter the occasion, you know it's one recipe you can always count on.

Jump to:

• Ingredients used
• Easy swaps
• Step-by-step photos and instructions
• Expert tips
• Other egg recipes for breakfast or brunch
• French Baked Eggs

Ingredients used

• eggs - make sure they are at room temperature, otherwise the baking time may very slightly
• creme fraiche - it's my first choice when it comes to oeufs en cocotte, its slightly sour flavour compliments the richness of the eggs so well
• salt and pepper - to taste
• grated nutmeg - it has an earthy touch that goes well with all the other ingredients
• paprika - for a splash of colour and heat

Easy swaps

Creme fraiche can be swapped for cream cheese, double cream / heavy cream or sour cream - or a combo of any of these.

To take this dish to the very next level, you can top it with cooked bacon, ham or any other deli meat, smoked salmon, cooked mushrooms, spinach and so much more. Fresh dill can be swapped for chives or green onions.

Step-by-step photos and instructions

• preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius (375 Fahrenheit)
• add a tablespoon of creme fraiche into 2 ramekins, either ceramic or enamel, crack an egg in each ramekin, season with salt, pepper, a pinch of nutmeg, chopped dill and paprika, top with another tablespoon of cream, and season well again
• place the ramekins into a pan with hot water, making sure the ramekins are half covered with water
• pop the pan into the oven for 12-15 minutes until the eggs are set but yolks are still runny
• serve hot with the bread of your choice

Expert tips

The baking time decides the doneness of the eggs, the longer you keep them in the oven, the harder the egg yolks.

If you like you egg yolk really runny, you can have a look at them after 10 minutes, otherwise, after 15 minutes both the egg whites and yolks will be completely set. Anything in between these times will give you nice creamy eggs.

All ovens are different, plus preheating the oven also plays a major part here, so the times can be approximate, it is best to keep an eye on them after the initial 10 minutes.

If you add any other ingredients to the baked eggs, make sure they are cooked and ready to eat, otherwise they will not have time to cook in the oven, and it will spoil the texture of the eggs.

Other egg recipes for breakfast or brunch

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