Leading up to Superbowl Sunday I thought ‘what unhealthy thing could I bake to bring to the party?’.  After a bit of searching online for different recipe ideas, I landed on baking something savory versus sweet – Mac & Cheese.  Instead of just doing the typical normal dish in a pan, I decided to bake them in muffin tins to make them into Beast Bites! :)  I modified the recipe a bit to add more flavour, adding in bacon bits to the recipe and crushed some pre-seasoned croutons to sprinkle over the top of the bites.  I tried to bake them with, and without muffin tin liners and found that doing without was better, as the paper liners stuck to the Mac & Cheese bites post baking.  Make sure when you drain the macaroni you don’t run water through the pasta, or else your bites will be super water-y and not hold well.  I definitely would recommend topping the Mac & Cheese Bites with ketchup too, surprisingly delicious!!

Let’s go Seahawks – Wooo! :)

Recipe (12 Beast Bites)
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup seasoned croutons crushed
1 bag of bacon bits

PREHEAT: oven to 350.

BOIL: large pot of water (lightly salted) then add macaroni and cook for 5 to 8 minutes until al dente.  Turn off the burner, then drain the macaroni (do not run water through the pasta) and return it to the pan.

COMBINE: in the butter and egg until pasta is evenly coated.  Set aside about 1/2 cup of sharp cheddar cheese for topping on the bites.  Add the remaining 1 cup of sharp cheddar, 1 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese, and cup of milk into the pasta and stir until the cheese is slightly melted.  Lastly add in the bacon bits and mix well into the batter, reserve some if you’d like to sprinkle on the bites.  Scoop the batter into the sprayed muffin tins and then sprinkle the remaining cheese, croutons, and bacon bits onto the tops of the bites.

BAKE: for 30 minutes or until the topping is nicely browned.  Let the muffins cool for a bit before removing from the pan.

#RecipeTags
#BeastBites
#Mac&Cheese
#SuperbowlSunday