Smoked Mac and Cheese Bake

My family absolutely loves any homemade mac and cheese, but recently I have added a few different additions to my dish that have turned it up a notch! Without further ado (and without a long story of how this all came to be), here is the newest D'Andrea family favorite mac-n-cheese:

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb dried elbow pasta
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 2 1/2 cups half and half
• 2 cups of cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 cup Colby cheese, shredded
• 1 cup smoked gouda cheese, shredded
• 1 1/2 cup Gruyere cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1/2 Tbsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp. ground mustard
• 1 1/2 cups of crumbled Ritz crackers (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and grease a 3 qt baking dish (9x13"). Set aside.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and add dried pasta. Cook just until al dente (about 7-9 minutes). Drain and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil to keep it from sticking.
3. While water is coming to a boil, shred your cheeses and toss them together to mix. Divide into three piles: 3 cups for the sauce, 1 1/2 cups for the inner layer, and 1 1/2 cups for the topping.
4. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Sprinkle in flower and whisk to combine. Cook for about 1 minute, whisking often. While whisking constantly, slowly pour in about 2 cups or so of the half-and-half until smooth. Slowly pour in the remaining half-and-half and the whole milk while whisking constantly until combined and smooth.
5. Continue to heat over medium heat and whisking often until you achieve a very thick consistency (like a condensed soup). 
6. Remove from heat and stir in spices and 1 1/2 cups of cheese, stirring to melt and combine. Stir in another 1 1/2 cups of cheese until completely melted and smooth.
7. In a large bowl, combine drained pasta with cheese sauce stirring to combine completely. Pour half of the pasta mixture into the prepared baking dish. Top with 1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese. Top that with the remaining pasta mixture.
8. Sprinkle the top with the last of the cheeses and the crumbled Ritz crackers, and bake for 15 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and light golden brown. 

Sticky Buns- Ooey, Gooey Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

Whole Wheat Sticky Buns Recipe

This recipe I made by accidentally leaving my bread out to rise over night on the counter instead of in the refrigerator (oops, I was a little tired and wasn't thinking clearly). I thought I was going to have to throw out the entire loaf because it had risen way to large to make a loaf, but then I had this crazy idea to turn it into cinnamon rolls. It was a great idea!! These were the best cinnamon rolls my kids and I have ever had. 

Here's what I did:

Place 1 loaf of frozen Rhodes 100% whole wheat loaf bread in a greased bread pan.

Cover loaf with greased saran wrap and set on counter over night. (I put mine out at about 7:00pm and didn't start the cinnamon rolls until 8:00am)

The loaf of bread will rise to a pretty large size like this:

Although my kids thought this was hilarious, I wasn't too sure what to do with this large loaf. Here's where my imagination won best of the year. Get ready for some yummy 100% whole wheat cinnamon rolls that will be the talk of the house for days!

Ingredients you will need:

2 Greased Round Pans

3 Tablespoons of Melted Butter

2/3 Cup Brown Sugar

1 Teaspoon of of cinnamon

1/2 cup of chopped pecans (Optional - I did 1/2 with & 1/2 without)

1/3 cups of Vanilla Almond Milk

2/3 cup of sifted confectioners' sugar

2 Tablespoons of Vanilla Almond Milk

  Combine brown sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl. Melt your butter, & grease your pans.

Dump out that big ol' loaf of bread onto a lightly floured surface like so, and get ready for the fun!

Roll it out as flat as possible, and spread melted butter all over the top.

Sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon on top of melted butter.

 

Now this is where I cut mine in half because some of us wanted pecans, and some did not. 

 

Then I sprinkled the chopped pecans over 1/2.

 

Roll dough into a log.

 

Cut into 1/2 inch-1 inch slices:

 

Place into prepared pans.

 

Cover with towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about 30 minutes. I just placed mine on top of the stove since the oven was preheating). 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

 

After the dough has risen, pour Vanilla Almond Milk over dough (I know this sounds weird, but you're not going to want to skip this step. This is what makes these rolls ooey, gooey delish!

 

Place in preheated oven until golden brown (20-25 minutes)

While rolls are baking, mix together confectioners' sugar and Vanilla Almond Milk in a small bowl.

 

Drizzle over warm cinnamon rolls and enjoy!!