Hey, Babes! This week's Girls Night Recipe is cute, classic, AND contains beer. ;) Winning combination. PLUS, tomorrow is National Macaroni Day, so gold stars all around! We took inspiration from How Sweet Eats & Chef in Training while crafting this recipe. You can make these Mini Beer Mac & Cheese Bites with the craft beer of your choice; we chose Cigar City Brewing's Florida Cracker and are glad we did. The beer flavor is subtle, but delicious! We're also super excited that this recipe is baked instead of fried, so it's a bit healthier for you, and it's vegetarian. We hope to have more options like this in the future. Thanks for taking a peek at this week's recipe xx

Watch our Mini Beer Mac & Cheese Bites recipe video!

This recipe will make 24 Beer Mac & Cheese Bites and will serve 4 to 6 Babes.

Ingredients:

2 cups elbow macaroni

4 cups water

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

8 oz milk

8 oz Florida Cracker craft beer

8 oz shredded cheddar cheese

4 oz parmesan cheese

1 tsp salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1 egg

Preparation:

Step 1. Bring your water to a boil and add 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp of pepper. Add your elbow macaroni and cook for approximately 15 minutes while stirring occasionally. Once the pasta is ready, set it aside while you make your cheese sauce.

Step 2. Combine your butter and flour over medium heat and stir until fully mixed. Whisk in your milk and beer. Then gradually add your shredded cheese while stirring consistently. Add paprika, and the remaining salt & pepper. Remove from heat and reserve.

Step 3. Combine your cheese sauce and macaroni in a large bowl. Mix fully. Then crack your egg and add it to your macaroni and cheese. Be sure to combine them thoroughly.

Step 4. Grease your mini muffin pan with cooking spray. Fill each slot with a spoonful of your Beer Mac & Cheese Bites. Once filled, place in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, sprinkle bread crumbs for texture and a tiny bit of paprika for color on top of each mini Beer Mac & Cheese Bite. Place them back in the over for 5 more minutes.

Step 5. Remove from the over after a total of 15 minutes and let cool for 5 minutes. While your Bites are cooling, finely chop parsley. Add your Bites to the serving platter or plates of your choice and sprinkle parsley throughout. Enjoy!