Mac 'n' Cheese Bites

  • Level: Easy
  • Yield: 36 bites
  • Total: 55 min
  • Active: 15 min
We miniaturized our kids' favorite meal into party-sized poppers. For big and little kids: Let them help measure the ingredients, stir them together and fill the muffin liners. You can make the snacks a day in advance, and warm them up at 350 degrees F for about 5 minutes.
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Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray

Kosher salt

1/2 pound elbow macaroni

1/2 cup heavy cream

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon yellow mustard

1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika

1 small clove garlic, finely grated

1 cup shredded mild Cheddar (about 3 ounces)

1 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese (about 3 ounces)

2 tablespoons breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Hot sauce, for serving, optional

Directions

Special equipment:
2 or 3 mini-muffin pans (for 36 muffins), mini-muffin liners
  1. Position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven, and preheat to 400 degrees F. Line 2 or 3 mini-muffin pans with liners, and coat the liners generously with cooking spray.
  2. Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook according to the package directions until al dente. Drain the macaroni and rinse under cold water until cool. Drain again and shake off any excess water.
  3. Put the heavy cream, cream cheese, eggs, mustard, paprika and garlic in a large bowl. Beat on low speed with an electric mixer until combined (the mixture may have small lumps). Add the macaroni, Cheddar and Monterey jack, and stir until combined.
  4. Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of the mac 'n' cheese into the prepared muffin liners. Combine the breadcrumbs and butter with your fingers in a small bowl until the mixture is the texture of wet sand. Sprinkle the top of each mac 'n' cheese mound with the buttered breadcrumbs.
  5. Bake until the cheese is melted and the bites are golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool for at least 5 minutes before serving hot or at room temperature. Serve with hot sauce on the side, if desired.

Let's Get Cooking!

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Tina Dooling

Omg! My celiac child that doesn’t like my homemade macaroni normally…made these with GF noodles & added cheese puffs that were good processed & he loved them!

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