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Show of hands, who remembers that Cinderella song from the 80’s, “Don’t Know What You Got Till It’s Gone”?
Well, just so you know, that’s the theme song for these muffins.
I clearly need some work on my Photoshop skills…
We used to have a Paradise Bakery near our house.
If you’ve never heard of it, it’s along the lines of Panera Bread, Zupas, and any other sandwich/soup/salad shop you can think of. It went belly-up this past year and there’s a Zupas there now. I was DEVASTATED when Paradise closed; didn’t even know it was coming!
I blame my fellow residents of Salt Lake City for this tragedy.
You see, SLC people LOVE lines. Seriously.
SLC people will be driving down the street and if they see a line coming out the door of some shop, they’ll come to a screeching halt, reverse right there in the road, and then sprint to join the line, not even totally sure what everyone’s waiting for. I’m not exaggerating. Lines are a thing here.
And since Paradise Bakery didn’t have any lines, SLC people would drive on by. While this made for the most wonderful Sunday mornings for me and James when we were in town, (a restaurant all to ourselves!!!) staying open for a few rebel anti-liners clearly wasn’t a good business strategy for Paradise.
There are very few foods out there that I actually get cravings for – I’m just not that kind of person. But Paradise Bakery had a quiche muffin I was completely and madly addicted to.
So when a friend dropped the bombshell that Paradise had closed (and by the way I remember the moment specifically as we do with any emotional life event) visions of their quiche muffins flashed before my eyes.
How could I go on??!!
I went through all the stages of grief… anger, boycotting Zupas, denial, listening to sad Cinderella rock ballads… It was during the “boycott” phase when I started my detective work on these muffins. Which brings me to this recipe.
The ingredients! How these come together into something so addictive is beyond me…
I’ve spent a ton of time researching other people’s versions of Paradise Bakery’s quiche muffins (turns out I’m not the only fan!) and even found the ingredients list for what Paradise actually uses in theirs. I will tell you this: one of their ingredients is heavy whipping cream. But since this recipe is already pretty heavy, I’ve Stefdapted that to half & half AND I’m sure I’m using way less than they likely did. Now, if you WANT to try it with the whipping cream instead, my feelings won’t be hurt. But honestly, my version is pretty darn close to the real deal, and I’m pretty excited about it.
Need to point out some of the ingredients here are pretty caloric dense, so you dieters will want to keep that in mind and watch your portion sizes. But remember, it isn’t caloric-dense foods that are the enemy in the healthful-living battle. IT’S PORTION SIZE. (…and she backs off her wellness coach soapbox...)
The good news is these are very low-carb, completely grain and gluten free, and they’re also jampacked with protein, healthy fats, and loads of nutrients you need to start your day off right. And how much easier can they get to make??? All you do is whisk everything together, pop in the oven and BAM. Foodie heaven.
As for you RVers, your best plan of action might be to make these pre-trip. They keep wonderfully in the fridge, and reheat good as new in just 30 seconds in the microwave.
I haven’t done so yet, but I’m planning to make these in my GoSun solar cooker when we’re on the road. It’s all ingredients I carry anyways, and I have the perfect rectangular silicone muffin cups for the solar cooker. So you fellow solar cooking fools keep that in mind, too!
And one last thing. These really do work best using silicone muffin cups in your oven. Others have tried them with paper liners, and also spraying their metal muffin tins, and in both cases reported some sticking issues. With silicone, you don’t have to oil the cups whatsoever. Everything slides right out. I’m super happy with my Wilton silicone muffin pan seen here:
Another batch going in!
SO! Now that I’ve gotten my own version of quiche muffins, I’m missing Paradise Bakery a little less. Hope you’ll try the recipe… and if you do, come tell me what you thought!
Love your comments and love your feedback.
xoxo, Stef
...PS I STILL haven’t stepped inside that Zupas. There’s still a line there!!
Stef's Make-Ahead Quiche Muffins inspired by Paradise Bakery
Ingredients
- 10 oz bag frozen chopped spinach
- 8 large eggs
- ½ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons half and half
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Put spinach in a fine mesh strainer and run under warm water for a minute to thaw it. Drain and thoroughly squeeze out the liquid. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs thoroughly.
- Add all the rest of the ingredients, including spinach, and stir.
- Spoon out the mixture evenly between 12 silicone muffin cups. NOTE: Anything but silicone is going to need to be thoroughly greased otherwise sticking will be a problem.
Bake for around 18-20 minutes, until eggs seem set.
- Remove muffins onto a cooling rack and allow to cool a few minutes to help them firm up a bit.
Either eat right away, stick in the fridge, or freeze. To reheat from fridge, microwave individual muffins 20-30 seconds. To reheat from freezer, I prefer to thaw in fridge overnight and then microwave 20-30 seconds in the am.
I used to work at Paradise Bakery in San Ana Ca. We preped all from scratch.The quiche were my favorite. I dough preped and bake. I truly miss everything we made, cookies , bread. Pastries Carrot cake. But the Quiche was amazing
Oh nice! Do let me know if you have any other tips for my recipe to get it closer to the real deal!
Is this recipe close to the muffins at the bakery? Did you use real garlic and onion or garlic and onion powder?
They are close, but not exact — I’ve healthed them up a little using half and half instead of heavy whipping cream. I use garlic and onion powder to get them closer to the Paradise version, but you could certainly use fresh garlic and onion!
“…you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone…”, original phrase was from Joni Mitchell, Big Yellow Taxi, 1970. Ironically, it’s about “they paved paradise and put up a parking lot”.
***** 5 star rating! I also loved these and researched them years ago and made my own version after our local Paradise closed. I ate them frequently during pregnancy and then took my daughter there often choosing for these egg muffins as she was a toddler over any sweet treats. As I went to look for my copy of my version, I was disappointed to not find it saved on my computer. I did not use the computer much in those days. I think your recipe is near perfect. I always used some real chopped onion or dry minced in mine as well as powder, but otherwise I believe our recipes are nearly the same. I do prefer sharp cheddar as you list and also included garlic powder as well. The original also had parsley in it.
Awww thanks Linda! It’s fun to hear from someone else who knows the Paradise Bakery muffins and loves them, too! Thanks for the suggestions for tweaks, I’ll have to try those myself!
Stef, as a result of finding your recipe I read through some entries on your blog. What a blast to be doing what you are doing. I’m looking forward to checking out more of your recipes and travel stories. Back in the day my husband and daughter and I did a lot of Camping/travel with our tent trailer as we had great freedom due to homeschooling. Such wonderful people we met on trips and re connections years later. I have a friend who started searching last week for a used motor home ish travel trailer type thing. I am showing her your link if it is her budget range.We are in northern California. How far away from the “Bay Area ” Is your vehicle sitting that you are selling? Too far for them to connect? You have my private email if you want to respond there.
That’s awesome you’ve spent time out camping, and could do so while homeschooling— that’s actually become a popular lifestyle for homeschooling families these days, living full-time in an RV with the road as the classroom. We’re in southern Utah… and unfortunately it looks like Lance our van has sold. We were overwhelmed with offers, which is both wonderful and difficult as we wish we could have had a Lance for everyone who wanted him. Wishing you the best; and perhaps we’ll see you out there on the road someday! ❤️
I was so happy to come across this recipe. There is a Paradise Café at my previous job. I just retired and had only just tried the muffins and fell in love. I tried a different recipe and it was not good. I can’t wait to try this one!
A fellow Paradise quiche muffin lover!!!!! Lauri, you get me. ❤️
Thanks for the recipes Stef! Does the Wilton Silicone Muffin pan fit in the Travato’s microwave (& the K’s convection oven)? Linda
Hmmm. I’m not sure, do you know the dimensions of your microwave in the K? Wilton does have a 6-cup muffin pan that’s 7 in. x 10.75 in. which you can find here: https://amzn.to/2pKPyiD Or you could always just buy the little individual silicone muffin cups here: https://amzn.to/2GhaKnC That’s how I started with silicone…with individual cups. But the pan is much easier to clean than individual cups, so I much prefer the pan!
These look fab. Freezing is a great idea. Can’t wait to try them. Thanks, Stef.
You’re most welcome, Pat! If you try them come let me know! xoxo