Remember when I told you I hired a Mommy Shorts assistant? When Foodie.com asked me to make a pie and showcase some of their best pie recipes, I asked her if she wanted to take this one. I wasn't planning on making a big deal that she wrote it, but then everything looked so amazing, I had to give credit where credit is due.

Let me introduce you to Hannah, taker of beautiful food photography. WHO KNEW?

I asked her to make Mac n' Cheese Mini Pies, thinking it would be really easy with leftovers and store bought pie dough. But Hannah doesn't believe in making things easy (probably because she doesn't have kids yet) and made everything from scratch.

Before Hannah gives you her recipe, take a look at 12 more kid-friendly mini pies found on Foodie.com.

HANNAH'S MAC N' CHEESE MINI PIES

If you want your kids to get excited about dinner, these adorable Mac n' Cheese mini pies might just do the trick. I made my own mac n' cheese, but you can use leftover mac n’ cheese just as easily, which has the added bonus of cleaning out your fridge.

Tip: Make sure you add a little extra cheese to your mac n’ cheese if it’s leftover, since it will dry out a little when you bake the pies.

The below recipe (from foodie.com) is for 24 mini pies, but you can easily cut the recipe in half.

Ingredients:

Homemade dough (pretty easy, click here for the recipe I used) OR store bought (much quicker)

For mac n’ cheese filling:

1 pound small pasta (elbows or shells)
2 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper
1-1/2 cups cheddar or jack cheese
egg wash (1 egg whisked with 2 teaspoons water)
kosher salt

In a large pot of boiling water, cook the pasta according to package. Drain. DO NOT rinse.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and ready two muffin pans (this makes 24 altogether) by greasing them with melted butter. 

Roll out one batch of pie dough and cut out large 4-5 inch circles pressing them into the greased muffin tins.

In a saucepan, melt the 2 Tablespoons of butter over medium heat, add the flour and stir constantly until combined – cooking through for about 2 minutes.

Add the milk and heavy cream and bring to a boil for about 2 minutes, take off the heat and add the mustard, paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Add the cheese and stir until thickened and combined.

Mix the pasta with the cheese sauce until nicely coated.

Spoon the mac n' cheese into the prepped muffins pans on top of the dough.

Roll out the second batch of pie dough and using a 2.5 inch cutter cut out circles of dough and place them on top of the mac n cheese. Fold up the corners to crimp and cut an ‘x’ in the center to release the air.

Brush the tops with egg wash and sprinkle with kosher salt.

Bake for 17-20 minutes until browned. Using an offset spatula, lift them out of the tins and let cool on a wire rack. Serve warm.

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This post is sponsored by Foodie.com.