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I seriously cannot believe we are more than half way through December and Christmas is this Friday. I thought I wrapped up my shopping yesterday, but I’ve figured out that I’ve got one more shopping excursion that needs to take place. Including shopping for Christmas dinner. I plan on enjoying a delicious meal with family which will surely include this recipe I’m sharing today with you for Bacon Cheddar Mac & Cheese Bites using Kraft Natural Shredded Cheese (my go to brand for shredded cheese when making mac and cheese since this is the brand I grew up with in my home as a child). When I was making this recipe I knew I wanted it to be something so good that everyone that had some would surely want the recipe. Well, I gave my sister a few of these after I made them. She saved them to take to work the next day and texted me “they should be illegal! That’s how good they are”!! I knew I had made come up with a recipe that was surely going to be a crowd pleaser on Christmas. Serve these up for your holiday meal and you too just may receive a text like mine praising your culinary efforts. This is a simple, easy and quick recipe that can be served as an appetizer at any party year round or even for kids served as a side dish with chicken nuggets for a simple dinner idea.
The morning I was working on my recipe I had all the ingredients except the bacon and the Kraft Natural Shredded Cheese. So I went down to my local Walmart and found the cheese in the dairy section of the store. I finished shopping and I quickly got to making this ooey gooey goodness into a reality.
- 4 cups of elbow macaroni cooked to directions
- ½ medium onion diced up
- ½ medium red pepper diced up
- 5 slices of bacon (can use turkey bacon as a substitute if you desire)
- ¼ cup of milk
- ¼ cup of half and half
- 1 egg (beaten)
- 2 cups shredded Kraft Natural Shredded Cheddar Cheese
- 1 cup of cubed Kraft Velveeta Cheese
- Black pepper
- Minced fresh chives for garnish (if you desire)
- 2 tbsp of butter
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- In a small frying pan add the butter, diced onion and diced red pepper. Cook for 5 minutes on low to medium heat and set aside.
- In another frying pan cook the bacon until done, blot excess oil on paper towels and chop the bacon into small pieces and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine the cooked elbow macaroni, onion, pepper, bacon and a dash of black pepper. Set aside.
- In a 2 or 3 qt sauce pan, combine the Kraft Natural Shredded Cheddar Cheese, the Kraft Velveeta Cheese, the milk and half and half. Cook on low-medium heat until all ingredients are incorporated and heated to a cheesy sauce.
- Next pour the cheese sauce over the macaroni blend of ingredients.
- Next pour the beaten egg into the bowl and mix everything together.
- Finally scoop into the wells of a mini muffin pan.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes until bubbly.
- Remove and cool for 10 mins before removing the bites from the pan, so that the cheese has time to set.
If you have a mini scooper use this as it’s the perfect portion size to fill the cups.
These will be very tempting straight out of the oven (I speak from experience), but give them a few minutes to cool before popping them out.
I really do hope you give these a shot. If serving these up for a party appetizer, click HERE for free downloadable food flags. If you love cooking with cheese, be sure to check out more delicious cheese recipes at Kraft.com and click HERE to get a coupon for $1.00 off when you buy two 8oz Natural Shreds & Chunks. You can actually save up to $13 this holiday season. I’m not sure about you, but if there is any way I can save money this time of year, show me the way I say. Have an awesome week!
This looks like such a fun recipe idea, and a great appetizer for a holiday party! YUM! {client}