Mac N Cheese Bites Food

KIDS CAN MAKE: MAC 'N' CHEESE BITES

Steps:

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

FRIED MAC 'N' CHEESE BALLS

Steps:

• Using a small ice cream scoop or a teaspoon, shape macaroni and cheese into 1-inch balls and place on a wax paper-lined baking sheet. Freeze 2 hours, or until firm.
• In a shallow dish, beat egg and water. In another shallow dish, combine bread crumbs, garlic powder, and pepper.
• In a deep saucepan over medium heat, heat oil until hot.
• Dip frozen balls into egg wash then roll in bread crumbs. In small batches, fry balls 3 to 5 minutes, or until golden brown and center is hot. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate and serve immediately.

MINI MAC & CHEESE BITES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°. Cook macaroni according to package directions; drain., Meanwhile, sprinkle 1/4 cup bread crumbs into 36 greased mini-muffin cups. In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour and seasonings until smooth; gradually whisk in milk. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly; cook and stir 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in 1 cup cheddar cheese and Swiss cheese until melted., Remove from heat; stir in biscuit mix, eggs and 1/2 cup bread crumbs. Add macaroni; toss to coat. Spoon about 2 tablespoons macaroni mixture into prepared mini-muffin cups; sprinkle with remaining cheddar cheese and bread crumbs., Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pans 5 minutes before serving.

MACARONI AND CHEESE BITES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425°F.
• In a large pan of boiling salted water, cook the macaroni until al dente. Drain well, shaking off any excess water.
• Brush mini muffin tins (48 mini-cups total) with butter. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of the Parmesan.
• In a large saucepan, melt the 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard over moderate heat for 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk and cook, constantly whisking, until boiling, about 5 minutes. Add the cheddar and American cheeses and whisk until melted. Mixture will be very thick. Remove from heat, and whisk in the egg yolk and paprika. Fold in the macaroni.
• Spoon slightly rounded tablespoons of the macaroni into the prepared muffin cups, packing well. Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan on top.
• Bake for about 10 minutes, until golden and sizzling. Let cool for 5 minutes. Carefully loosen the mini macs, remove from pan to a platter, and serve.
• These can be prepared through Step 4 and refrigerated overnight.

MAC 'N CHEESE BITES

Steps:

• Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add macaroni and American cheese; stir until cheese is mostly melted, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low; mix in milk.
• Set oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the oven on the low broil setting. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Spread pretzels crackers on the prepared baking sheet; top each with a slice of sausage. Spoon 1 tablespoon macaroni and cheese mixture over sausage. Sprinkle black pepper on top.
• Bake under the preheated broiler until American cheese and pretzels start to brown, 1 to 2 minutes.

HOMEMADE MAC AND CHEESE BITES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Spray mini muffin tins with cooking spray.
• Cook pasta according to packaged directions and set aside.
• In a medium size pan combine butter and flour over medium heat. Whisk until butter is melted and mixture is smooth. Slowly add milk and bring to a simmer. Add 1½ cups of the cheese, cream cheese, salt and pepper. Stir until smooth and creamy. Remove from heat.
• In a large mixing bowl, carefully stir pasta, cheese sauce, and egg until evenly mixed and pasta is evenly coated.
• Spoon mac and cheese into mini muffin tins and top each with a small pinch of remaining cheese. Bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
• Allow to cool 5 minutes before gently removing the bites.

MAC AND CHEESE JALAPEñO BITES

Steps:

• Prepare Dinner in large saucepan as directed on package. Stir in 1 cup cracker crumbs, egg, bacon and jalapeno peppers until blended. Cool 20 min.
• Shape into 30 balls, using scant 1/4 cup macaroni mixture for each ball. Insert 1 VELVEETA cube into center of each ball, completely enclosing VELVEETA cube. Roll in remaining cracker crumbs until evenly coated. Place in single layer on waxed paper-covered baking sheet.
• Heat oil to 375ºF in deep fryer. Add balls, a few at a time; cook 2 min. or until golden brown. Drain well. Serve warm.

MAC & CHEESE BACON BITES

Steps:

• Cook the pasta for 4 minutes less than the package instructions. Drain and set aside, reserving 1⁄4 cup of the pasta cooking water.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and then add the flour. Whisk together, cooking until the flour resembles wet sand and begins to smell nutty and fragrant. Add the milk, whisking until there is no lumps. Bring to a boil and cook for one minute, stirring often.
• Remove from heat and stir in the cheese. Season generously with pepper and add salt to taste (this will depend on the saltiness of your cheese.) Add the pasta and fold together until the pasta is coated, add 1 tablespoon of the pasta cooking water, if necessary, to loosen.
• Lightly grease a muffin tin and line each cup with a piece of precooked bacon to come up sides of cup. Spoon mac and cheese into each of the cups and then top with some Italian panko breadcrumbs.
• Bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown. Remove and allow to cool 5-10 minutes to settle into cups before removing and serving.

MAC AND CHEESE BITES

Steps:

• Grease a nonstick mini muffin pan very well with butter or nonstick cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat, then cook the pasta for 2 minutes less than the package says. My elbow macaroni said to cook for 7 minutes, so I drained it after 5.
• After you've cooked and drained the pasta, return the empty pasta pot to the heat and turn the heat down to medium. Melt the butter and add the paprika. Add the flour and stir the mixture around for 2 minutes. While whisking, add the milk. The mixture will be very thick, but that's intentional. Just make sure you have stirred out any lumps. Remove the pot from the heat and add the cheeses and drained pasta, stirring it all together until the cheese and sauce are well distributed.
• Portion your mac and cheese into the muffin cups, either with a spoon or a 3-tbsp cookie scoop. Pack the mac and cheese into the muffin cups with your fingers really well. If you don't pack the mac and cheese down, they won't hold their shape when you take them out after baking, and you don't want them to fall apart.
• Bake the mac and cheese cups for 15 minutes, until bubbling and gooey. Remove them to a wire rack to cool for at least 10 minutes, then carefully run a plastic knife or toothpick (assuming you need to not destroy the nonstick coating on your pan) around the edges to loosen. Remove the mac and cheese cups from the pan and garnish with chopped chives or scallion greens. Enjoy!

CREAMY OVEN-FRIED MAC AND CHEESE BITES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400°. Brush the cups of three 12-cup mini cupcake pans with the melted butter. Then sprinkle each tin with breadcrumbs and shake the pan, tilting to coat with breadcrumbs.
• Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook according to the package directions until al dente. Drain and set aside.
• Meanwhile, make the béchamel: Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring, until very lightly toasted, about 1 minute. Stir in the mustard and paprika.
• While whisking, slowly pour in the milk. Bring to a boil and cook over medium-low heat, stirring, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and add the cheese, a small handful at a time, stirring until the cheese is melted before adding the next addition. (You should have 2½ cups cheese sauce.) Remove from the heat and stir the cooked macaroni into the cheese sauce.
• In a large bowl, beat the eggs, then scrape the mac and cheese into the eggs and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
• Mound about 2 rounded tablespoons of the mac and cheese mixture into each cup of the prepared cupcake pan.
• Bake until the cheese is melted and the bites are golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool for at least 5 minutes before removing from the tins. Run a knife around the outside of each bite before removing it. Serve warm or at room temperature with hot sauce on the side, if desired.

MAC 'N' CHEESE BITES

Steps:

• To make the toppings, heat half the oil in a frying pan over a high heat, and cook the mushrooms for 10 mins until golden. Stir in half the garlic and the parsley, and fry for 1 min more. Season and scrape into a bowl. Heat the rest of the oil in the pan and fry the remaining garlic and the breadcrumbs for 3-5 mins, stirring until crisp. Scrape into a second bowl.
• Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat, then stir in the flour to make a thick paste. Gradually add the milk, a splash at a time, whisking until it's all incorporated. Cook for 2-3 mins more until thickened. Meanwhile, cook the macaroni in a pan of boiling salted water for 5-6 mins. Stir the cheddar into the white sauce until all the cheese has melted, then fold in the macaroni.
• Butter a 12-hole muffin tin and divide the mac 'n' cheese between the holes, packing it in with the back of a spoon. Top with the mushroom mixture, olives or sundried tomato slices, then scatter over the grated cheese and garlic breadcrumbs. Will keep, covered in the fridge, for up to 24 hrs.
• Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Bake for 15 mins until golden and piping hot. Leave to cool for 10-15 mins in the tin, then loosen by running a spoon around the edges. Transfer to a plate.