Disneyland Bacon Mac and Cheese Cones

A bread cone wrapped in red and white checked paper and filled with bacon mac and cheese.

Disneyland Bacon Mac and Cheese Cones

These delicious, hand-held delights are the ultimate comfort food: creamy, baked macaroni and cheese with bacon stuffed in a warm, golden-brown pizza crust cone. If you can’t make it to Disneyland anytime soon, don’t worry! You can recreate this magic at home with this easy recipe.

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Prep Time: 1 30

Cook Time: 35

Servings: mac and cheese cones

Equipment

stand mixer optional
saucepan
pasta pot
baking sheet
3-quart casserole dish (9x13-inches)

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

2 batches my Quick and Easy Pizza Dough
6 slices bacon
2 Tablespoons bacon drippings
1 pound elbow macaroni or cavatappi
2 Tablespoons kosher salt
4 cups milk 2% or whole
8 Tablespoons unsalted butter divided
½ cup all-purpose flour
8 ounces Gruyere cheese grated
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese grated
1 Tablespoon fine sea salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup breadcrumbs

Instructions

Make the Bread Cones

Mix one batch of my Quick and Easy Pizza Dough and let it rest, covered, for 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 450°F.
While the dough is resting, make 4 cone forms for the dough with paper and aluminum foil. Roll an 8.5x11-inch piece of paper into a cone shape. Cover with aluminum foil to keep it from burning in the oven (see pictures in post for instructions). Set aside.
Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Each piece of dough will make 4 large bread cones.
On a floured work surface, roll out one piece of dough to a 12x18-inch rectangle. Cut 12, 1-inch strips, lengthwise.
Carefully wrap one strip of dough around a cone, beginning at the pointy end. Slightly overlap each the dough when wrapping it around the cone to ensure there are no gaps. Once you have wrapped one strip of dough, begin wrapping another piece of dough where the first one left off, pinching the ends together to create a seamless appearance. Add one more strip of dough, using 3 per cone. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat this process until all 4 cones have been wrapped with dough. Brush dough with olive oil.
Bake for 8-11 minutes, turning the cones every 2-3 minutes to brown all sides.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes and then carefully remove the cone forms and continue to cool the bread cones on a wire rack (see post for make ahead options).
Repeat steps 5 through 8 with the second piece of dough.

Make the Mac and Cheese

Preheat oven to 375°F.
Cook the bacon until crispy. Place on a paper towel to drain and cool. Reserve the bacon drippings and set aside. Once cooled, chop the bacon and set aside.
In a large pot, bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Once boiling, add 2 Tablespoons kosher salt to the water. Add pasta and cook until al dente, according to package instructions.
Remove from heat. Drain pasta and return to pot. Toss pasta with 2 Tablespoons of the bacon drippings. Cover and set aside.
In a small saucepan, heat the milk. Do not bring it to a boil. Remove from heat and set aside.
In a large saucepan, melt 6 Tablespoons of the butter on medium low heat. Add the flour and cook for 2 minutes, whisking constantly. Add the hot milk and whisk together. Cook an additional 1-2 minutes, whisking until smooth.
Remove from heat and add the Gruyere and cheddar cheeses, the fine sea salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir until combined. Pour the cheese sauce over the cooked macaroni and gently stir to combine. Fold in the chopped bacon.
Fill a greased 3-quart casserole dish with the mac and cheese.
In a small bowl, melt the remaining 2 Tablespoons of butter. Combine with the breadcrumbs. Sprinkle over the top of the mac and cheese.

Bake

Place casserole dish on the center rack in the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the sauce is bubbly and the top is slightly golden. (Cover with foil if the top is browning too quickly.) Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Assemble the Mac and Cheese Bread Cones

Scoop the mac and cheese into each bread cone, compacting it so it fills the entire cone. Serve while warm and enjoy!

Notes

If using active dry yeast, add the yeast to the water first and let it bloom for 10-15 minutes. If yeast does not bubble up, it needs to be replaced. If it does bubble up, you can proceed with the rest of the recipe. See my article Active Dry Yeast vs. Instant Yeast for more about baking with yeast.
You can use store bought pizza dough instead of making homemade dough, BUT the homemade pizza dough is SO easy to make! One batch of the homemade recipe makes about 18 ounces of dough. This makes 4 cones. I suggest either doubling or making two batches of the Quick and Easy Pizza dough for 8 cones, as shown for this recipe. Most store bought doughs are around 14 ounces, so you'll need to buy two packages. If using store-bought dough, your cones will be slightly smaller than the homemade ones.
Once completely cooled, keep bread cones in an airtight container until ready to use. This will keep them from drying out.

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