My earliest memory of mac and cheese is of that magic (or horrifying) combination of neon orange powder and straight macaroni noodles. One bite and I was hooked. It’s been many years since I’ve had Kraft Dinner, but I’ve never lost my love for a gooey mess of cheese and noodles. My love for mac and cheese may have started with KD, but my obsession with it is definitely due to homemade.
These mini mac and cheese muffins mimic French onion soup by using gruyere and lightly caramelized onions. The sweetness of the onions and the nutty savouriness of the gruyere made these mac and cheese muffins are perfect with a cold beer.
The key to any good mac and cheese is the cheese, but more importantly, it’s the white sauce. Lump free white sauce is the perfect base for any cheese. White sauce is a simple 1:1 ratio of butter to flour, plus cold milk. I made my fair share of lumpy sauce before I found out that adding cold milk to a hot roux ensured that my sauce was lump free every time. Lump free white sauce, try it!
I am cheesy, I am muffin-shaped: I AM MINI MAC AND CHEESE MUFFIN!
Mini French Onion Mac and Cheese Recipe
yield: 18 mini mac muffins
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1/2 cup milk, cold
- 3/4 cup shredded gruyere
- 2 tablespoons diced onions, lightly sautéed
- 1 cup macaroni
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- chives for garnish
Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a pot of boiling, salted water, cook the macaroni until al dente and drain.
While the pasta is cooking, heat butter over medium low heat in a small sauce pan. When nice and bubbly, add flour and whisk to combine into a thick paste. Turn heat to low and continue to whisk until roux is cooked, but not brown. When the roux looks slightly grainy, it’s time to add your cold milk. Add the cold milk at once and whisk. Your sauce will look lumpy at first, but as the milk heats up, the lumps will disappear. Continue to stir over medium low heat until sauce is bubbly and thick. Stir in 1/2 cup of shredded gruyere and onions. Season with pepper to taste.
Fold the macaroni into the cheese sauce. Spoon the mac and cheese into a lightly buttered mini muffin pan. Try to compress the mac and cheese into the tin; this will help the muffins retain their shape. Top with remaining shredded gruyere and bake for 30-35 minutes or until tops are nice and brown.
Let the mac muffins cool for at least an hour before removing from muffin tin. Garnish with snips of chives. Enjoy!
23 Comments
February 19, 2012 at 5:15 am
How long have you had this blog? I love it! I tried viewing some of your older entries but couldn’t find anything older than the beer one. The photography is phenomenal, and I like your use of text in the images.
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Russell at Chasing Delicious says:
February 21, 2012 at 1:51 am
Yum! Another awesome recipe. I’m loving your blog too, btw!
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Bryan & YiRan says:
February 27, 2012 at 7:38 pm
Wow – nice! I’ll try this if I can convince the fiancee to go for mac & cheese one night :)
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Ji says:
March 26, 2012 at 1:18 am
This looks so yummy! I just found ur blog and i’m loving it!
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Jessica says:
September 22, 2012 at 9:53 am
Can I freeze these? At any point in the recipie? Plus can they be warmed up?
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Nicole Kavanagh says:
November 10, 2012 at 8:19 am
What kind of soup would be good with this recipe?
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Alice @ Hip Foodie Mom says:
December 4, 2012 at 7:51 am
Oh my gawd!!! This is awesome!!! I LOVE mac n cheese mini muffins!!! Dude, this is taking it to a whole other level. Brilliant.
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Keith says:
June 13, 2013 at 8:59 am
If you have to let them cool for an hour, how do you recommend reheating to serve them warm?
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Gauri says:
June 18, 2013 at 6:54 am
Absolutely loved this one. I am so glad I stumbled upon your blog while searching for some Takoyaki recipes – just bought the cast iron Takoyaki pan :)
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Saroyash says:
September 15, 2013 at 10:37 am
Yummy cant stop making it. Thankyou for the receipe…
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TheGreatZambini says:
February 14, 2014 at 2:48 pm
This is great! I kind of want to bake it in a cake pop pan, stick a lollipop stick in it, and call it a cheese pop. It sounds catchy this way, no?
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Jim says:
October 4, 2014 at 4:58 am
I’m confused on the onion part, the beginning says caramelized but in the actual recipe it lists “lightly sautéed” which should it be?
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steph says:
October 4, 2014 at 8:27 am
I just lightly sautéed mine as I was in a hurry, but if you caramelize the onions, it will taste more like French onion soup. Hope that helps!
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Chris says:
October 24, 2014 at 11:17 am
These sound amazing, but I am confused. Do you eat them hot or cold? Can they be made ahead and refrigerated?
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steph says:
October 24, 2014 at 12:25 pm
I usually have them at room temperature, so after they have cooled down enough to remove from the pan. I haven’t had them cold, but you can make them ahead and eat them cold if you are okay with cold pasta. They don’t really keep their shape if you heat them up too much. Hope that helps!
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Chris says:
October 24, 2014 at 12:49 pm
Thanks! Thinking of bringing them to a potluck party. I think they should hold up. Ever try putting them in baking cups?
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steph says:
October 24, 2014 at 4:27 pm
no but that would definitely work! especially if they are the foil ones!
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Irene says:
November 3, 2015 at 3:54 am
we have to bake them but… what temperature?
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Stephanie Le says:
November 4, 2015 at 9:32 am
hi irene,
the temp is at the very top of the instructions: 350°F. hope that helps!Reply