Macaroni & Cheese Muffins

Ok, so these aren't really muffins. They're more like muffin-shaped baked mac and cheese. Because of that, they would really make great party food; you can just pick them up and eat them--no fork needed! They're also good for when you just want something a little different and fun. I made them to go with some creamy red pepper and gouda soup. A couple of the ingredients overlap nicely between the recipes. I hate buying something like half-and-half and then only using half a cup of it with the rest going to waste. Therefore, this recipe and the soup recipe together use up all of the half-and-half and gouda that I bought. You don't have to make them together, but that's part of the reason that I did.


Ingredients

1 1/2 sleeves Ritz crackers (about 50 crackers)
4 oz shredded white cheddar, divided
2 oz shredded gouda, divided
8 tbsp butter or margarine, divided
8 oz elbow pasta
4 oz Velveeta, diced
2 eggs
3/4 c half-and-half
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper


Directions

Crush Ritz crackers by hand or with a food processor. Melt 6 tbsp butter, and in a large bowl, combine butter, crushed crackers, 2 oz white cheddar, and 1 oz gouda. Mix well. Mixture should resemble coarse sand. Spray a muffin pan with non-stick spray, and divide cracker mixture evenly between all 12 muffin cups. Press the cracker mixture into the bottom and up the sides of each cup to make a "crust" for each muffin. Set aside.

Meanwhile, boil elbow pasta until al dente. Drain and return to pot. Stir remaining 2 tbsp butter, 2 oz white cheddar, and 1 oz gouda into the elbow pasta. Add the Velveeta, and stir well. In a separate bowl, beat 2 eggs with half-and-half, salt, and pepper. Add to pasta mixture, and stir well to coat. Spoon pasta into prepared muffin cups, dividing evenly. Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes. Allow to cool 5 minutes before gently removing muffins from pan.


Servings: 12


Recipe adapted from Annie's Eats.