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side view of a platter of cute little mac & cheese mini muffins

Cute, Little Mac & Cheese Mini Muffins

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  • Author: Stacey
  • Prep Time: 25 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 55 minutes
  • Yield: 48 mini muffins 1x

Description

In my attempt to arrive safely in Flavortown, I purchased the ingredients for a mac & cheese mini muffins recipe I saw on Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives. It was "off-the-hook."

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1 box of elbow macaroni (1 lb)
  • 1 teaspoon salt (in the pasta water)
  • 1/4 cup of chopped scallions, optional garnish

For the cheese sauce

  • 1 cup gruyere, shredded
  • 1 cup seriously sharp cheddar, shredded
  • 1 cup of crumbled goat cheese
  • 4 tablespoons flour
  • 5 tablespoons butter
  • 2 1/2 cups warm milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt, more if needed
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

For the breadcrumbs

  • 2 cups plain panko breadcrumbs
  • 1 cup finely shredded parmesan
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1 1/2 cloves garlic, finely diced

NOTE: YOU WILL NEED A MINI MUFFIN PAN TO MAKE THIS RECIPE. I USED THE ONE WITH 24 MINI CUPS IN IT.  (see note 3)

Instructions

  1. Don’t forget to check out my video for this recipe with step-by-step instructions. 
  2. As you’re getting set up, put a large pot of water on the stovetop and bring your salted water to a boil (high heat). 
  3. Shred the gruyere and parmesan cheese and set aside. I used the larger shredder side for the gruyere and the smaller, finer shredder side for the parmesan. 
  4. Finely dice the garlic. 
  5. Add the 1 lb. box of elbow macaroni to the boiling water with salt to taste, about a teaspoon. Cook per package instructions. 
  6. Panko bread crumb mixture. Put the plain panko breadcrumbs into a large bowl and add the shredded parmesan. Mix together. Add the garlic and olive oil. Mix thoroughly until all the mixture is lightly coated in the olive oil. 
  7. Chop the scallions if you’re using for an optional garnish. 
  8. Make the cheese sauce. On low-to-medium heat, melt butter in a pot and once melted add the flour to make a roux (thickening agent). Whisk together and heat for a few minutes to cook off the raw flour taste. I always microwave the milk for a minute, then add it to the roux. Mix well. Let it cook a couple of minutes and it should start to thicken. Add the gruyere, sharp cheddar, goat cheese, salt and Worcestershire sauce. Taste it. If you think it needs a touch more salt – add it here.  Mix well, then remove from heat. 
  9. When the macaroni is finished cooking, drain the water. I put the macaroni back into the same pot I cooked it in.  Pour the cheese sauce into the macaroni pot and mix together. 
  10. Generously spray your mini muffin pan with a non-stick spray (like Pam). 
  11. Spoon in ½ to ¾ of a teaspoon of the panko mixture into each mini muffin cup. Using a small round measuring spoon press down gently in the center of the panko in each cup. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 400 degrees for 3 minutes or so. Just long enough to toast the panko. Ovens are all different – keep your eye on it and make sure it doesn’t burn. 
  12. When you remove the muffin pan from oven make sure you have a trivet or sheet pan to put the hot muffin pan on. 
  13. Spoon the mac & cheese into the muffin cups. (video shows this well) 
  14. Sprinkle more of the panko mixture on top of the muffins. 
  15. Put muffin pan back in the pre-heated oven at 400 degrees and cook for 8-10 minutes. Tops should be golden and crispy. 
  16. Let them cool for 10 minutes before removing from the muffin pan. They will fall apart if you try removing them straight out of the oven. My muffin pan is Teflon so I used a plastic take-out knife to gently remove the mini muffins from the pan.
  17. Garnish with scallions if you’re using them. If there’s any extra toasty panko bits on the bottom of the muffin tins, sprinkle that on top as well. 
  18. Enjoy!

Equipment

Notes

  1. For the cheeses: I almost always have a block of fresh parmesan on hand so I used that. You can use already-bagged shredded parmesan too. I bought bagged seriously sharp shredded cheddar. I think the original recipe used orange cheese, but I forgot the day I went shopping so used white cheddar. With gruyere I can almost never find it already shredded so I bought one small block. 
  2. Yes, you can freeze them. I double Ziplock bagged them and stuck them in the freezer. They tasted great reheated!
  3. I only had ONE mini muffin pan so I cooked these in two batches.

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Find it online: https://eatthebite.com/cute-little-mac-cheese-mini-muffins/