Egg-Filled Croissant Cups with Swiss Cheese and Chives

Preheat the oven to 375°F and spray 6 muffin cups with nonstick baking spray. Open the tube of croissant dough and roll it out onto a lightly floured surface. It will be perforated for croissants, and we want to eliminate holes while working with the dough as little as possible (overworking the dough will make it tough).

Dust your hands with a little bit of flour so they don’t stick to the dough and lightly pat the perforations out of the dough. Use a sharp knife to cut the dough into 6 equal squares. Place one square of dough into each muffin cup and press it into the cup to completely cover the bottom and sides of the cup. Press the dough so a little bit sticks up over the edges of the cup—that edge will help hold the egg in.

Put a slice of Swiss cheese in the bottom of each dough cup and sprinkle with just a bit of salt and black pepper. Crack one egg into each muffin cup. I prefer to use a fork or a chopstick to break the yolk and lightly beat the egg, but you can skip this step if you’d like your yolks to remain intact. Sprinkle the eggs with some of the chives, salt, and pepper and place the pan in the oven. Bake for 20 to 24 minutes, until the edges of the pastry have turned a deep golden brown and the egg has completely set. I prefer a medium-hard yolk, so I bake the croissant cups until they no longer jiggle but the yolk is still soft to the touch—remember, the egg will continue to cook a little bit longer when out of the oven but still in the tin. Allow the cups to rest in the tin for about 5 minutes before serving.

Excerpted from "Bake it in a Cupcake, 50 Treats With a Surprise Inside," by Megan Seling/Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC.