Smoked Cheddar BBQ Mac & Cheese

Growing up, my sister and I were big fans of the Kraft mac and cheese. We would make up a batch with that powdered cheese for lunch on weekends or when my parents weren't home to make us dinner. Of course we would devour the entire box and likely be left hungry afterword. I've had some pretty good mac and cheese over the past few years, including a truffle mac and cheese that blew me away. At the end of the day, nothing really compares to the comfort of that good old boxed stuff though.

I'm always willing to try a new mac and cheese recipe with the hopes that I can make it a tad bit healthier. Ok, I admit. This isn't the world's healthiest mac and cheese. But I did my best to make it as healthy as possible. After all, comfort food can't be super healthy, or else it won't be comforting.

I came across this Picky Palate recipe while playing around on Pinterest.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound whole wheat pasta
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
• 2 cups skim milk
• 2 cups low fat/low sodium chicken broth
• 3 cups maple smoked cheddar cheese
• 2 cups part skim mozzerella
• 2 cups shredded BBQ chicken (cooked chicken with BBQ sauce)
• 1 cup maple smoked cheddar

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
• Melt butter in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Whisk in flour and pepper, cooking 1 minute. Slowly whisk in milk and chicken broth, until smooth. Increase heat and stir until liquids come to a boil.
• Reduce heat to low and add in first 5 cups of cheese and pasta.
• Pour mixture into baking dish, topping with chicken and additional cheese. Bake for 25 minutes or until cheese bubbles.