Mini Mac-and-Cheese Cakes

I was flipping through the magazine from the Taste of Home Cooking School show I went to when I came across this recipe.  I have been meaning to start working on the recipes in this magazine, but haven’t had time yet.  This was a great one to start with.  The original recipe is from the Chex cereal website (Chex is a sponsor of the Taste of Home Cooking School), and their version is gluten-free:

Gluten-Free Mini Mac-and-Cheese Cakes

Now, I cheated and used a box of mac-and-cheese dinner to make these.  While I used just regular mac-and-cheese, I know there is boxed gluten-free mac-and-cheese, so you can do my “cheat” too and still have these be gluten-free.  I found that 1 box made about 4 cups of prepared mac-and-cheese, so you could double the other ingredients and get 24 cakes instead of 12.  Or, if you have some mac-and-cheese leftover, it would be perfect to use up by making these.

Also, these stay together pretty well, so if you need something for a meal on the go, this would probably work!  Cook them before you have to leave, let them cool a little, then eat them in the car or at your destination.

Mini Mac-and-Cheese Cakes

What you need:

2 cups mac-and-cheese dinner, made according to the directions on the box
1 egg, beaten
3 cups Corn Chex cereal, finely crushed
4 Tbsp butter, melted
1-1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

How to make it:

Move oven rack to the lower third of your oven and pre-heat the oven to 350 F.  Mix together the mac-and-cheese and beaten egg, set aside.  In separate bowl, mix together the crushed Chex cereal, melted butter, and 1 cup of the shredded Cheddar cheese.  Grease a regular size 12 cup muffin pan.  Divide cereal mixture into each muffin cup, and press lightly into the bottom and up the sides.  Spoon the mac-and-cheese mixture into each muffin cup.  Top each with the remaining 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese.  Bake for 20 minutes, or until puffy and golden brown.  Cool for 5 minutes, then remove from pan.

Tags: dinner, gluten-free