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 case, 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!
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- Old Fashioned Bacon and Egg Pie
- A proper pie
- Recipe notes
- How to make a bacon and egg pie
- How to make the pastry
- Make the filling for the bacon and egg pie
- Other pies you may enjoy
- Can I freeze bacon and egg pie?
- How do you serve bacon and egg pie
- Pin for later
- Recipe – Old fashioned bacon and egg pie
- Old fashioned bacon and egg pie
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 of this bacon and egg pie, 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’.
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
The bacon and egg pie was reserved for special occasions when we had guests. It was placed in the
Recipe notes
- Prep time – 30 minutes
- Cooking time – 30 minutes
- Yield – 1 x 9″ diameter pie
- Calories – 333 per slice
- Main equipment – Food processor for making the pastry. This is similar to the one I have. I’ve had it for over ten years and it’s still going strong. Of course, you don’t have to use a food processor, you can mix the pastry by hand, but I find a food processor makes such light work of making the pastry.
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. If included my recipe for shortcrust pastry below.
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 fingertips 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 decora
t e 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 it 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 c
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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Pin for later
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Recipe – Old fashioned bacon and egg pie
Old fashioned bacon and egg pie
(Click the stars to rate this recipe)
Ingredients
For the Shortcrust Pastry
- 2 cups (280g) Plain Flour
- 4.5 ounce (125g) Butter (cubed)
- 2 large Egg Yolks
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons (60 ml) Ice Cold Water
For the Bacon and Egg Filling
- 4¼ ounce (125g) Streaky Bacon
- 6 large Eggs (don't break the yolks)
- 2 large Eggs (beaten)
- ¼ 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
Nutrition
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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This recipe has been shared to CookBlogShare
Did Granny use a food processor as well? I need to buy one to be able to make her delicious sounding pie
No she didn’t, but don’t worry, if you read through the recipe you’ll see that I’ve given instructions for making the pastry by hand. I merely mentioned that a food processor would make short work of making the pastry.
Hi I’m from South Africa love your recipes want to try all of it☺️
Thank you – I hope you do try them all (and enjoy them 🙂 )
This recipe was exactly how my grandma used to make it! Thank you!
My Gran made it this way too. It’s her recipe, as well as I can remember it 🙂
This bacon and egg pie recipe is to die for!!!! – I basically ate the whole one on my own – making it tonight for my hubby…. And it’s so quick and easy!!!! And it can can also be frozen and if not and you’re feeling peckish then this pie is great
I know you enjoyed it – I saw you eating it. Hope William enjoys it as much as you did. Let me know how it turns out 🙂
What a fabulous pie, and it brought back lots of memories. My Granny came to live with us when I was about 5, and lived with us for 20 years. She baked and cooked all the time, and there was often one of her pies for supper. Have bookmarked to try this one.
Hi Lou, so glad you enjoyed it. If I’d known back then what I know now I’d definitely have spent a lot more time with my granny in the kitchen. You can’t beat the old ‘tried and tested’.
My sister in South Africa sent me the link to your page. I’ve been sitting here going through the recipes. You’ve taken me home to Rhodesia (I live in Melbourne Australia)…Gran used to cook these recipes. Thank you so much x
Hi Debra – I’m so pleased you like them. My son lives in Brisbane and he makes my recipes regularly. He says it reminds him of home 🙂
What an amazing recipe. Is it the same one that your Gran used? What an amazing baker and cook to come home too. I love that she baked for your family every Friday. Thank you for sharing it with #CookBlogShare. It looks like an absolutely incredible pie!
Unfortunately, it’s not my Gran’s original recipe. I’ve done a lot of experimenting though and I think this must be close. She only lived with us until I was 10, and then at the ripe old age of 70, she got married and moved out. She was amazing.
Oh wow, that sounds perfect! Nothing beats bacon and eggs!
Anything with bacon 🙂 !