Mac & Cheese Cupcakes

Y'ALL.

I don't even know how to begin about these.  They make me so irrationally happy.  Photographing them was a journey of cute deliciousness.  Honestly, I was trying to come up with an interesting, fun Superbowl recipe.  Something a little more substantial than the world's most awesome salsa, but not so difficult that the ingredient list or amount of steps would be prohibitive.  And what happened far exceeded my expectations, both in flavor and in adorable-ness.

Now, I know the Superbowl is not about cute {that's why we have the puppybowl}, but these mac & cheese cupcakes just make me smile.  That's why I am hopinghopinghoping that you haven't already picked out your contribution to a Superbowl party.  Because these need to be made.  And even though so many things conspired against me with this recipe {forgot to buy macaroni until I was in the grocery store parking lot, cut my finger on the crazy-sharp food processor slicer blade, made infuriating mess of cheese everywhere while tending to finger} I would still do it all over again for these fabulous, cheesy treats.

Ok, see those cupcake liners in that picture?  Disregard them.  I tried with and without the liners, and liners just pulled mac & cheese off and made the cupcakes very difficult {and disastrously messy} to eat.  If you allow the cupcakes to sit in the pan for 5-10 minutes after pulling them out of the oven, they will hold their delightful cupcake shape just fine.

{Sorry to the woefully under-filled cupcake up there.  I was down a finger.} Also, please don't be frightened by the jalapeno ring on top.  It's mostly for color, but also to indicate the bitsy of cayenne that is mixed in.  There's just a hint of kick, but the predominant flavor is definitely cheese.  And no butter!  It's practically health food.

Just make these.  The Superbowl needs them.

Mac & Cheese Cupcakes
Makes 18 cupcakes

12oz cooked elbow macaroni (I cooked 1lb and am using the rest for pasta salad lata)
3/4 cup cottage cheese
1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder
2 tablespoons flour
A pinch of both salt and pepper
1 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 1/2 cup monterey jack cheese, shredded
1/4 cup parmesan, for sprinkling on top
1 jalapeno, sliced into thin rings

Preheat the oven to 350 and spray a muffin tin with pam.  Place cottage cheese, sour cream, cayenne, flour, and s&p into a large bowl and whisk vigorously.  You're looking to whisk out the cottage cheese lumps so that the mixture is mostly creamy.  Mix in the cooked macaroni, and then stir in the cheddar and monterey jack cheeses.  Combine until all the macaroni is coated.

Scoop the mixture into the muffin tin, filling just up to the top.  The sprinkle parmesan on each cupcake and top with a jalapeno ring.  Bake for 25 minutes until the parmesan begins to brown.  Then pull out of the oven and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes until you remove them.

They also taste great at room temperature.  Just in case you were wondering.

Did I mention I'm lactose intolerant?  Let's just all continue to live in denial about that, mmk?