8 Adult Versions of Your Favorite Childhood Meals

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As kids, mac and cheese was either made on the stovetop (where it's all soft) or in the oven (where only the top crust gets crunchy). If you're like us, you always wanted more of the crunchy bits. Behold: the muffin top of mac and cheese. Get the recipe at Food52.

For those of us who weren't lucky enough to grow up eating Southeast Asia's savory version of french toast, here's an easy recipe that might just make you turn your back on sweet french toast forever. It still pairs well with eggs and bacon, but (dare we say it?) this french toast would also make a mean Monte Cristo. Get the recipe at Food52.

Tender morsels of chicken eagerly soak up the velvety sauce in what is a remarkably quick and forgiving version of the take-out classic, kung pao chicken (which you might remember eating with the sitter when Mom and Dad had their date night). Customize at will by adding sliced mushrooms, water chestnuts, or diced celery to the stir-fry. For those with healthy appetites: Double this recipe. Your guests will praise you. Get the recipe at Food52.

Sometimes all you want is comfort food, and few things are as comforting and nostalgic as grilled cheese. But the older we get, the more we emphasize the "cheese." What's the use in eating a flavorless sandwich? This version combines sharp, aged cheddar with a pistachio-sage pesto, but the combinations of pesto and cheese are endless. Get the recipe at Food52.

This is a spicy tomato soup that you can make on a whim and eat nearly as soon, with just five ingredients at its core. Tomato soup wasn't spicy when we dunked our grilled cheeses into it as kids, but it will be from now on. Get the recipe at Food52.

This is the ultimate peanut butter cookie for chocolate lovers. The texture is reminiscent of the peanut butter cookie we all grew up on, but with every detail refined. The base is made with cocoa and unsalted peanuts, and semi-sweet chocolate chips are added in. A sprinkle of coarse sea salt tops each one, keeping the sweetness in check. Get the recipe at Food52.

The technique of smearing these wings with a blue cheese "dip" before coating them in flour and cornstarch is sheer brilliance and reminds us of playing in the kitchen as kids. With every bite, you get tangy heat, a satisfying crunch, tender meat, and a seductive hint of blue cheese. Get the recipe at Food52.

It wouldn't be a complete list of adult versions of favorite childhood foods without some booze. Here, cider is quickly steeped in spices—cloves, cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg—before you add white wine and cranberries, which give the punch a light rosy hue. It goes down easily (a little too easily if you don't pace yourself), so make sure no one at the kid's table mistakes it for an innocuous mulled cider. Get the recipe at Food52.