Cottage Cheese Substitute in Egg Bites

[Lissa Kristine]

So, before I was planning on starting up with this Whole30 thing, I bought a silicone egg bite mold to make copycat egg bites (similar to the Sous Vide ones at Starbucks). 

I'm just struggling with how to recreate a Whole30 compliant version. The eggs and veggies are all good, and I can live without the flavor of the cheese. The issue is the cottage cheese. 

The recipe calls for 1/2 cup of cottage cheese to be blended with the eggs resulting in a smooth, creamy egg. (Unlike the drier, spongey result that can happen with egg bites). I'm just not sure what what would work to help recreate that creamy texture.

Any suggestions? Coconut cream? Maybe NutPods? 

[ShannonM816]

This recipe uses nutpods:  https://www.sustainablecooks.com/egg-bites/ -- coconut milk/cream should work similarly, but it could have more impact on the flavor. 

I haven't tried the Starbucks ones, so I have no idea how any of the following would measure up, but if you were up for experimenting, you could try: cashew cream (like this: https://www.theharvestskillet.com/recipe/cashew-cream-sauce/ -- you should be able to scale that recipe down and you probably don't need the lemon juice, I see variations of it in lots of recipes to add creaminess); cauliflower (steamed, then blended with the eggs -- I use this in a creamy butternut squash soup I make, I feel like it ups the creaminess and you don't taste it); mashed avocado. Any of these would definitely change the texture, I think flavor wise any of them would taste good, but I'm not sure which one would get you closest to the texture you're going for. 

If you try something and it works well, let us know. 

[ElizabethG]

I would suggest trying pureed butternut squash, or another kind of pumpkin.

[hollysmokes]

What timing! When I came home yesterday my husband had a sous vide immersion circulator sitting on the kitchen counter. I don't go to Starbucks so I'd never heard of egg bites until just now but it looks interesting and I use coconut milk as the creamy component for my breakfast casseroles (essentially a crustless quiche) all the time so I'm going to try it out tomorrow. I'll report back on the results. Thanks for the inspiration!