Finding Silver Linings

Beauty in the everyday

Entertaining FSL Style, Recipes ·

Baked Mac & Cheese Cups

Last week, I hosted “Girl’s Night In” here at casa FSL.  Drinks & apps.

I like to think of myself as an adventurous cook.  When it comes to cooking for a group of people though, I feel that it’s best to stick with traditional crowd-pleasers.  I made turkey-chili queso (here’s the recipe), a balsamic bruschetta type concoction, and baked mac & cheese cups…which went the fastest of the three apps.  This dish is usually really filling, unless they are in small portions.  When it comes to apps, finger foods are king.  Plus, they’re cute 😛

Easy baked mac and cheese cups! Great make ahead app for a party or crowd

The best part about this recipe, is that you can make them a day ahead of time, & pop them in the oven when you need them.

Here’s how I made them:

Cook 1 box (1 pound) of elbow macaroni in boiling water for 5 minutes, then drain.  You just want to par boil the pasta because it will finish cooking when you bake the cups.  Mushy pasta is disgusting, trust me.

Coat 24 muffin tins with nonstick spray, then sprinkle a teensy bit of grated cheese into the bottom of each cup.  This will create a nice, cheesey crust on the bottom.

In a large sauce pan, melt 3 tablespoons of butter.  Whisk in four tablespoons of flour for about two minutes.

Whisk in 1 1/2 cups of milk, and keep stirring for about five minutes.

Measure 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar, 1/2 cup shredded monterey jack, and 1/2 pound of thinly sliced american cheese. 

Stir them all into the buttery milk mixture  until smooth.

Remove from heat.  Add two egg yolks & a dash of paprika. Stir.

Fold in the macaroni until evenly coated.

Fill baking cups with the mixture and sprinkle with grated cheese.  This is the point where you can pop them into the fridge to finish at another time or continue on now.

Put these into a pre-heated oven at 425 for about 10 minutes or until tops start to turn golden brown.

 

Let them cool for about five minutes before serving.  I used silicone bakeware so I can pop them out (and so nobody accidentally throws them away).

Recipe stolen borrowed from Food & Wine Magazine, tweaked by yours truly 😉

Enjoy!

Comments

  3. ausaryn / T says

    Those look a-mah-zing! Too bad it’s no dairy or gluten for me…. That measuring cup full of cheese looks like the greatest thing ever right now. If you could make a calorie-free, dairy-free, gluten-free version that tastes the exact same I would love you forevers and evers..lol.

    Reply

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