Or Maybe Not

A recipe for hard “boiled” eggs, which are actually baked in the oven, is making the rounds of Pinterest these days. With Easter coming up, it sounds like a great way to cook a large batch of eggs for dyeing without the struggle to keep them from cracking in the pan. I decided to try it, using only two eggs before committing myself to more.

I preheated the oven to 325º, as the recipe suggested (although it does say you can go as high as 350) and baked the eggs for the recommended 30 minutes. I then put them in a bowl of ice water for ten minutes, again, strictly following the recipe.

My results were disappointing. The eggs were not completely cooked, with a small section of the white of each being runny and a small part of the yolk not being completely firm. The brown spots that appeared on the shells did not completely disappear when the eggs were cooled, although the recipe said they would. There were also some brown spots on the egg whites themselves, although those parts tasted okay. Finally, the eggs were not easy to peel, as promised.

I could try again, either raising the temperature or increasing the baking time, but I suspect that while the eggs would be firmer, the brown spots would be more extensive. I don’t see the benefit of using this method over my regular method of boiling eggs. I’m sure people have had success with this recipe (maybe my old oven is just wonky), but if you plan to cook your Easter eggs this way, I’d make a small trial run first, especially if you plan to dye them. The brown spots could be a problem for dyed eggs.