Ingredients
Cooking spray
12 slices pumpernickel bread
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/3 c. hard cider
1/3 c. whole milk
1 1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
3/4 c. shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 c. shredded Gruyère cheese
1/4 tsp. kosher salt (optional)
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp. thinly sliced chives
Preparation
Step 1Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease a 24-cup mini muffin pan with cooking spray.Step 2Spread out bread on a work surface. Using a rolling pin, roll out to 1/16" thick. Using a 3" round cutter, cut 2 rounds out of center of each slice, avoiding crusts. Discard crusts and scraps. Press bread rounds into prepared muffin cups.Step 3Bake bread until crisp, 10 to 15 minutes.Step 4Meanwhile, in a small pot over medium heat, melt butter. Whisk in flour until a thick, bubbling paste forms, 30 seconds to 1 minute. (Do not allow paste to brown.) Whisk in cider, milk, and mustard, stirring to form a smooth, thick sauce. Remove from heat and fold in cheeses until melted; season with salt, if needed. Spoon a 1 scant tablespoon cheese sauce into each bread cup.Step 5Bake fondue bites until filling is bubbling, 10 to 15 minutes.Step 6Let sit in pan 1 minute, then carefully remove with a fork or offset spatula. Top with black pepper and chives. Serve warm.Step 7Make Ahead: Bread cups, without filling, can be made 1 day ahead. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
Traditionally, fondue features a blend of cheese melted with wine and a bit of cornstarch to create a dreamy dip. Our twist includes a blend of cheddar and Gruyère spiked with hard cider and Dijon mustard, which is baked inside a crispy little bread cup until it becomes a bubbling cheesy sauce. No skewers, no molten hot cheese dripping over everybody, and no cheese-encrusted slow cooker to clean out at the end of the night. Read on for tips on these one-bite appetizers. Looking for more? Check out these fried mashed potato balls. How do we make the crispy bread cups? These little bread cups couldn’t be simpler. Start by rolling out sandwich bread until it’s super-thin, then cut out rounds and tuck them into greased mini muffin cups. A 10-minute bake in the oven dries out the bread, transforming it into sturdy little cups, perfect for holding that molten hot cheese. How do I keep my cheese sauce from getting greasy? Cheese sauces become greasy if they’re overheated, which causes the oils in the cheese to separate. To avoid this, we recommend removing the sauce from the heat before folding in the cheese. The residual warmth from the sauce should be enough to melt the cheese. If for some reason yours doesn’t melt completely, you can return the pot to low heat for 10-second bursts, stirring constantly, until it’s melted. This should add enough heat to melt the cheese without splitting the sauce. Made these? Let us know how it went in the comments below.
