Parmesan Scalloped Potatoes

Ohhh yum did we hit on something good here.  Scalloped potatoes.  In classy looking little towers.  Crispy top layer and soft bottom layers.  Parmesan cheese flavor throughout.  Earned a "They're *really* good" from my husband.  Mmmmm starch.
Caveats:

• You will have a scorched muffin tin you may consider throwing away afterward.  Don't despair.  A good soak with some dish soap and the gunk comes off with a scrub.
• Because of aforementioned muffin tin, you may consider just making these plain old scalloped potato style in a casserole dish.  Don't.  It's baking them in the muffin tin that gets that awesome Parmesan sauce to seep into each dreamy potato stack, so don't go fighting it.
• Let us all give a slow clap to Insockmonkeyslippers for this recipe.

Makes 6 stacks; enough to serve as a dinner side for 2 adults

Ingredients

• 1 garlic clove
• 1/2 shallot
• 1 cup half and half
• 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, plus extra for garnish
• 2 medium baking potatoes

Directions

1. Spray a muffin tin with copious amounts of nonstick spray.  Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Peel and mince the garlic and shallot.  Transfer to a medium mixing bowl.  Stir in the half and half, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese, and the salt, pepper, and thyme.  Set aside.
3. Peel the potatoes and slice with a food processor.  You may need to cut the potatoes a bit to fit.  [Sidebar: I am a food processor potato slicing convert.  I really love my mandolin slicer for softer things, but trying to slice potatoes on that thing is a workout.  Use the food processor's slicer disc and be done with the slicing in 10 seconds.]
4. Stack 7-10 potato slices in each muffin tin cup.  You may need to trim some slices to fit nicely into the tin.  I just weeded through the slices for the "good" sizes.  Do not stack potatoes higher than the cup.  Spoon about 1/4 cup of the half and half mixture into each cup, pouring over the stacked potatoes.  Do NOT overflow the cups.  Tent the muffin tin with aluminum foil.  If the foil is too close to the potatoes, it'll stick to them, and you don't want that.
5. Bake for 35 minutes.  Remove the foil and sprinkle each stack of potatoes with the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.  Put back in the oven and bake 10-15 minutes more, until the tops are golden brown and the liquid is absorbed into the potatoes.
6. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool.  Carefully slide a knife around the edges of each stack to loosen the potatoes, then gently remove and serve.  I used a spoon to lift mine out, and damaged the bottom layer or two in the process.  Share any improvements you have on removal method!
7. Add additional thyme as a garnish, if desired.