About Me

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Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
I'm a stay-at-home mother of 2 who loves to bake rich desserts, create healthy dinners, and create homemade crafts. I'm always Hungry for the Homemade! Take some recipes, make them your own, and let me know how it goes.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Panera Bread-style Mac N Cheese

I LOVE Panera Bread, not only for the good food, but because it's one place kids, husband, and I can all agree on. I took a spoonful of the Mac N Cheese from my daughter and was shocked at how tasty it was. Sharp white cheddar and white american cheeses made this a must-have recipe at our house. I found a recipe on another blog (Thanks LiveBeautiful; http://www.courtneykirkland.com/2010/09/panera-bread-mac-cheese-recipe.htmlgreat pics!), so I'm passing it along the recipe with my own pictures.


  • 1/3 Cup of All Purpose Flour
  • 1/4 Cup of Butter
  • 2 1/2 cups of 2% Low Fat Milk
  • 8 oz [1 block] of Extra Sharp White Cheddar Cheese
  • 6 Slices of White American Cheese [cut into small pieces]
  • 1 Box of Medium Shell Noodles
  • 1 tsp of Dijon Mustard (I found I didn't like the mustard flavor, maybe a little powdered mustard instead.)
  • 1/3 tsp of Hot Sauce
  • 1/4 tsp of Kosher Salt

Directions:
-Prepare your noodles according to the directions on the box and drain.
-Melt butter in Boiler on Low Heat. Once melted, gradually mix in 1/3 cup of flour. Whisk continually for 1 minute until creamy and thick.
-Gradually stir in milk on Medium Heat. Sauce should thicken and bubble but remain creamy. Whisk until smooth.
- Next, remove sauce from heat and add cheeses, mustard, hot sauce and salt. Mix thoroughly until smooth and creamy. There should be no lumps in the sauce. 
-Once mixed, add your noodles back to the sauce and cook over Medium Heat for 1-2 minutes…just long enough to heat the Pasta the entire way through.
-Add Paprika as a garnish if you desire. 

2 comments:

  1. Mmmmm...Looks delish! Where do you find your white cheddar cheese?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Trader Joe's...my home away from home. :-)

    ReplyDelete