Bacon and Egg Pie – made the old fashioned way

This is a recipe that has stood the test of time. An old fashioned bacon and egg pie as made by my Granny. A light as a feather shortcrust pastry, packed full of tasty bacon and whole eggs, baked in a creamy egg custard filling. Hand on heart, this is the best bacon and egg pie you will ever eat!

Old Fashioned Bacon and Egg Pie

There’s a bit of debate around whether this is a bacon and egg pie, or an egg and bacon pie! To be honest, it doesn’t really matter. As long as you have a light flaky pastry crust, filled with tasty rashers of bacon and whole eggs, you can call it whatever you like. I’ve even heard it being referred to as a breakfast pie! One thing is for sure though – once you’ve tasted a slice, you will be calling it your ‘favourite pie’.

When I was about 7 or 8 my Granny came to live with us. She loved baking and Fridays very quickly became ‘Granny’s baking day’. I used to look forward to Friday and getting home from school to see what she’d been baking.

One of the things she made was her ‘Feather Cake’. Unfortunately I never got the recipe for that, but it was the lightest of cakes, baked in a square tin and served by the chunk instead of a slice. A slab of that cake was just what you needed after a day at school.

When blackberries were in season I was sent out with a jam-jar to collect the essential ingredient for her blackberry and apple pie. I still remember the taste of it to this day. Rich flaky pastry filled with slices of tart baking apples fresh from the market and oozing with purple juice from the blackberries.

I remember baked egg custard covered in nutmeg. She always kept a whole nutmeg in the pantry to grate over the top. And rice pudding covered with a brown skin… the list goes on.

A proper pie

My favourite, however, was her old fashioned homemade bacon and egg pie. I call it old fashioned, but to me that was a proper pie. With pastry on both the top and the bottom. A slice of that pie was a meal in itself and you needed very little in the form of accompaniments.

The bacon and egg pie was reserved for special occasions when we had guests. It was placed in the centre of the table, decorated with a pastry leaf and surrounded with salads. Sticks of celery in a glass of cold water to keep them crispy. Lettuce, tomatoes and baby potatoes. Simple fare by todays standards, but to me, in those days, it was a feast.

How to make a bacon and egg pie

You can get the full list of ingredients and quantities in the printable recipe card at the end of this post.

To make a bacon and egg pie you will need pastry and some bacon, eggs, milk and cream. The pastry can be shop-bought if you prefer, or you can make your own.

This is the ultimate bacon and egg pie. It’s what I call a proper pie, in that it has pastry on the top and the bottom so that you can pick a slice up in your fingers to eat it. It also contains whole eggs, broken on top of crispy fried bacon that is layered on a pastry base. The whole dish is then filled with a mixture of beaten eggs, milk and cream, before being allowed to bake and set in the oven. The eggs cook inside the pie, and end up looking as though you have filled the pie with hard-boiled eggs.

How to make the pastry

Making your own pastry is so rewarding, especially when you have a recipe as easy as this one, which is guaranteed not to fail.

There are only 5 easy steps to follow and you can have this mixed in no time.

Tips for perfect pastry

• Make sure your ingredients are as cold as possible. Keep the eggs and butter in the fridge and use ice cold water for mixing.
• Handle the pastry as little as possible.
• Leave the pastry to relax in the fridge for at least half an hour once it has been mixed. This last step is important as it allows the gluten to relax, and helps to prevent the pastry shrinking during cooking.

Sift 240g (2 cups) of all purpose flour into a mixing bowl and add 125g (4.5ounces) of cubed butter and 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)1 (image 1). Don’t add any baking powder. We don’t want the pastry to puff up during cooking. For this reason you should not use self-raising flour.

Rub the butter into the flour with your finger tips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs (image2). Lift the butter and flour above the bowl and let it drop back as you rub. This will ensure you incorporate plenty of air into the mixture, which will result in a lighter pastry.

Now separate 2 large eggs and add the yolks to the flour. You can use the whites to make meringues, or to make these coconut meringue topped jam tarts. Add 4 tablespoons ice cold water (image 3).

Use a flat-bladed knife to cut the eggs and water through the flour until the pastry starts to come together in lumps (image 4).

Now use your hands to gently press the pastry together into a flat disk. Do not knead. Handle the pastry as little as possible – over-worked pastry will be tough.

Place the disk of pastry into a plastic bag, or wrap with clingfilm and place in the fridge to relax for half an hour.

Make the filling for the bacon and egg pie

• Roll out 2/3 of the dough to about 1/4 inch thickness, and use it to line your baking dish. You will need an 9″ (22cm) diameter, round baking dish for this recipe.
• Fry the bacon in a frying pan, or cook it in the microwave between 2 paper towels. Don’t over-cook it. It will continue to cook in the oven when you bake the pie. Just allow most of the fat to fry out. I like to use streaky bacon but back bacon works just as well.
• Let the bacon cool and then layer it on the bottom of your lined baking dish. Break 6 eggs at even intervals over the top.
• Mix the milk, cream and remaining 2 eggs together. Season with salt and pepper and pour over the eggs and bacon (image 1 above).
• You might not need all the liquid. Don’t over fill the pastry case. You can use any left over egg mixture for glazing.
• Now roll out the rest of the pastry, and use it to form a lid. Crimp the edges to seal, then prick with a fork and glaze with a little beaten egg and milk (image 2 above).
• If you want to be fancy you can cut leaves from the pastry trimmings and decorate the top of the pie.

Bake

• Place in a pre-heated oven (180C / 375F) and bake for about 30 minutes until the pie is puffed and golden (image 3 above).

• You need to keep your eye on it. The cooking time can vary depending on various factors such as altitude or whether you have a fan-assisted oven. If you think the pie needs a little longer then leave it in the oven for a few more minutes.

Can I freeze bacon and egg pie?

Yes, you can freeze the finished pie.

Just allow it to cool, then remove from the baking dish and wrap in a layer of tinfoil, covered with a layer of clingfilm. Place in the freezer for up to 6 months.

To defrost, leave in the refrigerator.

Serve cold. Or to warm, place on a baking tray in a medium oven for about 10 minutes until warmed through.

I wouldn’t warm this pie in the microwave as the pastry will not be crispy.

The pastry freezes really well too.

If you like, you could double the recipe for the pastry and freeze half for another day. Just wrap the ball of pastry in cling film and put it into a freezer bag in the freezer.

To use, let the frozen pastry defrost in the fridge, then remove from the fridge and let the pastry return to room temperature before rolling out.

How do you serve bacon and egg pie

This pie can be served at any meal.

• Warm a slice in the microwave and eat for breakfast – a sort of instant bacon and eggs.
• Have a slice cold for lunch or a mid-morning snack.
• Eat it for a light supper with a selection of salads.
• This bacon and egg pie is also ideal to pack into a picnic hamper with your other outdoor food goodies!

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Convert grams to cups

To help you convert your recipes, I have created a handy Cookery Conversion Calculator which will convert ingredients between grams, ounces, tablespoons, cups and millilitres. I hope you will find it useful.

If you live at a high altitude you may find you need to adjust your baking recipes to compensate for this. You can read about how to do this in this post on baking at high altitudes.

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Recipe – Old fashioned bacon and egg pie

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5 from 8 votes

Old fashioned bacon and egg pie

Tasty bacon and whole eggs are the star of this bacon and egg pie made with the lightest flakiest shortcrust pastry

Prep Time30 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Course: Baking, Lunch

Cuisine: Any

Servings: 1 9-inch pie

Calories: 333kcal

Author: VJ

Equipment

• Mixing bowl
• Frying Pan
• 8" (20cm) pie dish
• Rolling Pin

Ingredients

For the Shortcrust Pastry

• 2 cups (240g) Plain Flour
• 4.5 oz (125g) Butter (cubed)
• 2 large Egg Yolks
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons (60 ml) Ice Cold Water

For the Bacon and Egg Filling

• 4¼ oz (125g) Streaky Bacon – about 16 rashers
• 6 large Eggs (don't break the yolks)
• 2 large Eggs (beaten)
• 1/4 cups (60 ml) Pouring Cream
• 1 cup (240 ml) Milk
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

For the Shortcrust Pastry

• Place the Flour, Butter and Salt into a mixing bowl
• Rub lightly with the fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs
• Add the egg yolks and most of the cold water
• Stir this through the flour with a knife until it comes together in lumps.
• Now press together until it just comes away from the sides of the bowl and form it into a ball.
• Flatten the ball of dough, wrap it in clingfilm and allow it to rest in the fridge for at least half an hour.

For the Bacon and Egg Filling

• Preheat oven to 180°C / 375°F
• Fry the bacon until most of the fat has been cooked out and the bacon is almost crispy. Drain on paper towel and allow to cool.
• Roll ⅔ of the pastry to about ¼ inch thickness and line your pie dish. Let it overlap the edges slightly.
• Layer the bacon on the bottom of the lined pie dish
• Break each of the 6 eggs on top of the bacon at roughly evenly spaced intervals.
• Mix the remaining 2 eggs with the cream and milk, season with salt and pepper (optional)
• Pour the egg mix slowly over the bacon and eggs in the pie dish allowing it to fill any gaps.
• Roll the remaining ⅓ of the pastry into a circle and place it on top of the pie.
• Crimp the edges of the pie to seal and cut off any excess pastry. You could use the trimming to cut leaf shapes to decorate the top of the pie.
• Pick holes on the top of the pastry with a fork to allow steam to escape whilst cooking and then brush with a little beaten egg and milk to glaze.
• Place in the oven and bake for approximately 35 minutes until golden brown.
• Remove from the oven. You can eat this either hot or cold.

Notes

Pastry Notes

To save time you could use a food processor to combine the flour and butter.

Don’t add all of the water at the beginning.  Depending on the size of the eggs you may not need it all.   Once you’ve added the water you can’t take it out again.

Use your own judgement on the amount of water.  You are looking for a soft pastry that comes together in a ball without being too sticky.    The pastry should come together into a ball and not stick to the sides of the bowl.

Be careful not to overwork the pastry or it will become tough.  Handle it as little as possible.

Wrap it in clingfilm and let it rest in the fridge.  This step is important as it allows the gluten to relax, and cuts down on any shrinkage during baking.

If you want to make the pastry in advance you can even leave it overnight in the fridge.

Calories based on cutting pie into 12 slices

Filling Notes

Don’t overcook the bacon.  I find the easiest way to cook it is to layer it between paper towels and give it about 3 minutes in the microwave.  

When you line the pie dish let the pastry overlap the edges slightly so that the pastry lid can be sealed nicely.

You may find that you don’t need all the egg and milk mixture.  You can use any leftover to glaze the pie before cooking.

You can use trimmings from the pastry to make leaf shapes to decorate the pie.

Various factors such as altitude or fan-assisted ovens can determine how quickly the pie cooks.  Keep your eye on it and if you think it needs a little more cooking time just leave it in the oven for a few of minutes longer.

This pie can be served hot or cold.

I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only.  If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.

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