I know what you’re thinking. Mac and cheese cupcakes?! How on Earth is that possible? Quite a few years ago there was a trend going around to make savory cupcakes. What do I mean by savory cupcakes? Well, usually cupcakes are sweet. You can take any kind of recipe like meatloaf, mac and cheese, fish tacos, tacos, spaghetti, eggs, and make it in a muffin tin pan. I like it because it’s easy to know what a serving or portion is.
For these mac and cheese cupcakes, I used my favorite mac and cheese recipe from Ina Garten. Instead of baking the mac and cheese in a casserole dish I baked them in a muffin pan. I added some more cheese on top and bread crumbs and they are ready in 15 minutes. They have to bake awhile in the oven first.
Can we talk about cheese for a second? I love the fact that my favorite grocery store Aldi has a bag of shredded Gruyere cheese ready for these kinds of meals. I don’t know about other grocery stores but I’m sure stores like Costco and Sam’s sell them by the block and you have to shred it. This is genius and makes it so much easier to make mac and cheese at home now. I’m not a fan of grating cheese. Are you?
How to make Mac and Cheese Cupcakes
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Add the macaroni and to a pot of boiling water and the noodles according to the directions on the package, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain well.
Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don't boil it. Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a large (4-quart) pot and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. While whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth. Off the heat, add the Gruyere, Cheddar, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add the cooked macaroni and stir well.
Line a 12 muffin cup tin with cupcake liners and spoon the mac and cheese into each cupcake tin hole. Top each cupcake with as much bread crumbs and shredded cheddar cheese as you like.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.
Serving Size
1 muffin or cupcake is 4 points
This recipe makes about 4 dozen cupcakes. That’s a lot if you portion them into muffin tins. When I halved the recipe it made 24 cupcakes!
I also didn’t sub any cheese and used what the recipe called for. The only thing I changed was to use low-fat milk such as 1%.
Other Mac and Cheese Recipes
Alton Brown’s Stove Top Mac and Cheese
Killer Mac and Cheese with Bacon
Mac and cheese "cupcakes"
- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 15 min
- Total Time: 35 min
- Yield: 4 dozen 1x
Ingredients
1 pound elbow macaroni or cavatappi
1 quart milk
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided
½ cup all-purpose flour
12 ounces Gruyere, grated (4 cups)
8 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (2 cups)
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¾ pound fresh tomatoes (4 small)
1 ½ cups fresh white bread crumbs (5 slices, crusts removed)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Add the macaroni and to a pot of boiling water and the noodles according to the directions on the package, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain well.
Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don't boil it. Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a large (4-quart) pot and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. While whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth. Off the heat, add the Gruyere, Cheddar, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add the cooked macaroni and stir well.
Line a 12 muffin cup tin with cupcake liners and spoon the mac and cheese into each cupcake tin hole. Top each cupcake with as much bread crumbs and shredded cheddar cheese as you like.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.
Notes
WW Freestyle Points: 4
- Category: Medium
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 muffin or cupcake
- Calories: 116
- Sugar: 1g
- Fat: 6g
- Saturated Fat: 4g
- Carbohydrates: 10g
- Fiber: 0g
- Protein: 5g
Keywords: mac and cheese cupcakes
I am not affiliated with WW formerly known as Weight Watchers in any way. I am just a member who likes to create WW recipes and share them with everyone. I am by no means a nutritionist but try my best to figure out nutrition info for every recipe. Freestyle is the name of the current program of WW and smart points are calculated for the recipes.
How is this a WW recipe?
NO FOOD is off limits on WW and WW themselves stresses that a lot on their social media pages. That is one reason why I love WW. You can pretty much eat ANYTHING to lose weight just as long as you stay in your daily points range or are in a calorie deficit.
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