Deep Fried Mac & Cheese Bars

Prep Time: Overnight
Cooking time: 10 Minutes

I've experimented with deep frying things before but nothing like this has ever been created in my kitchen.  I was thinking hard about deep fried macaroni and cheese balls (normal) and was trying to think how they get the noodles to hold together in the shape of a circle before dipping in batter to deep fry.  The only thing I could think of was chilling the macaroni because whenever I have done so in the past with leftovers it seems to stick together when it's refrigerated. So I decided to give it a shot.

The mac and cheese is made from scratch, I made the sauce with heavy whipping cream, salty seasonings, tons of cheese, and butter.  After mixing the cheese sauce and noodles, I poured the mac and cheese into a large rectangle Pyrex dish and evened it all out so that the top of the mac and cheese was flat.  

Like most hungry gals, I made the mistake of being impatient. I only waited two hours for the macaroni and cheese to chill in the fridge.  Fail...the key to this recipe is to make sure that your mac has completely hardened up and is thoroughly chilled.  If the mac and cheese is still warm, or even room temp it will fall apart when you try to dip it in the thick/heavy batter, and you will have a big mess on your hands (not to mention a waste of perfectly delicious macaroni and cheese!)  I suggest leaving the macaroni and cheese in the fridge overnight just to be certain it wont fall apart. That being said, you should plan ahead when you want to make this so that you don't have to sit around worry about guessing/checking to see how chilled your mac is.  

The batter was the easy part.  I used basic pancake batter mix, and added in some seasonings to make it less sugary and more salty.  It's better to use a batter than bread crumbs to cover your mac because the batter surrounds the mac and gets every part of it covered unlike bread crumbs.  The batter also forms and hardens faster around the shape of the mac and cheese once you place it in the hot oil.  Because the pancake batter is so doughy it makes this whole thing taste like a very very gooey grilled cheese, it's unreal. 

Ingredients:

MAC & CHEESE 
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 stick of butter
American cheese (cant really go wrong with how much you use, I used about 10 slices of Kraft singles)
1 lb of elbow noodles

BATTER
1 batch of boxed pancake mix (You most likely will need veg oil, eggs, and milk to prepare mix)
1 tablespoon of granulated garlic
1 tablespoon of salt
1 tablespoon of crushed cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon of black pepper

*You will need to fill up a pot with vegetable oil, the amount of oil will vary depending on how big of a pot you use.

Cooking Instructions:

Day 1:  Mac prep. 
1. Prepare the noodles by boiling with salt then rinsing.
2. While waiting for the noodles to boil, make the cheese sauce by melting the butter on low heat, adding in the whipping cream and cheese, then let it simmer (be careful not to let it burn).  It should be done after about 10 minutes but you're going to want to keep it warm so either reduce the heat or put a lid on it.  
3.  Once the pasta and cheese sauce are done, pour cheese sauce on noodles and mix together.
4.  Spray the Pyrex dish with non stick pam.
5. Place macaroni and cheese in pyrex dish, make sure it is spread evenly and as flat as possible. Cover with a sheet of wax paper, once the wax paper is on, you can place other dishes on top of the mac to ensure that it will chill very flat.  
6. Refrigerate over night! Be patient. The longer it chills, the more the mac will stick together.  

Day 2:  The fun part.
1. Prepare the batter by making the pancake batter according to directions on box and then add in your spices and mix.  
2.  Remove mac from fridge and cut into bar-shaped slices.  Be careful because if you cut it too thin it will fall apart easy, if you cut it too thick it might get too heavy and collapse.  
3.  Fill a pot with vegetable oil, about an inch away from the top of the pot, and turn the heat on. (Make sure your pot is big enough to fit your entire bar in the oil.) When it's hot the oil will sizzle, you can get your hand wet and flick a little water into the oil to double check. If the oil sizzles when water touches it, it is ready.
4."Stab" your mac bar with a knife that can support the whole thing longways.
5. Completely cover your bar with batter so that you cannot see any of the mac. The trick is to move quickly from the batter station into the oil.
6. Submerse the covered mac and cheese bar into the hot oil and let it fry for about 2-3 minutes until crispy brown on the outside. 
7. After removing the bar let the oil drip off onto a paper towel while it cools then you are ready to eat!