BBQ Beef Cups and Football Season

Drumroll please...today I bring to you THE FIRST FUN RECIPE OF FOOTBALL SEASON!

Woohoo!  Game day food!

Good night, what has happened to me over the past few years?  When I did I actually start to care about and look forward to football rather than simply suffering through it next to my husband?

I don't know exactly how all of this transpired...but it has.

And here I sit- actually eagerly anticipating the Seahawks/Cowboys preseason game this week.

What.  Is.  Wrong with me.

Dunno.

Do you know what I do know?

Football food is fun and you and I?  We have several months more of fun game day foods to go.

Sure, we'll intersperse some other obligatory stuff.  You know...Halloween, Thanksgiving, general cozy fall goodness, Christmas, New Years...but have no fear, football season is here and the corresponding fun foods are coming.

Starting out the Game Day Food season this year is Barbecue Beef Cups.

Ooh boy, that sounds appetizing, doesn't it?

I know.  Sounds kind of funky actually.

I made these thinking my husband and daughter would enjoy them and they'd be ok...but honestly, they really exceeded my expectations.  They're super yummy.

Simple too!

You start with store-bought biscuit dough (I used the Pillsbury Grands!® Flaky Layers Original Biscuits), flatten them, and press them into prepared muffin tins like a little pie crust.  Then throw them in the oven for a couple of minutes to blind bake them a little.

Brown some ground beef, toss with BBQ Sauce (I used my go-to recipe from that rib recipe that I love so much- I haven't bought BBQ sauce in forever!) and onions, and bake.  Top it with cheese towards the and and there you have it- a pretty darn delicious little handheld food perfect for football watching!

I happened to have the dried onions it calls for on hand because of the Ham Salad recipe my husband loves (and I rarely think to make for him...), but if you don't you could EASILY just sauté some onions and throw them in.  You could also bulk this up a little with sautéed peppers if you were so inclined.  :-)

Enjoy!

Barbecue Beef Cups

Modified slightly from Allrecipes.com

1 lb ground beef

2/3 C barbeque sauce

1 Tbsp dried minced onion

2 (12 ounce) package refrigerated biscuit dough (16 biscuits total)

2/3 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease the cups of a muffin pan.

2. In a large heavy skillet over medium heat, cook beef until evenly brown. Drain excess fat. Stir in barbeque sauce and dried onion. Simmer for a few minutes over low heat.

3. Flatten each biscuit, and press into cups of the prepared muffin pan. Make sure the dough comes to the top of the pan. Bake empty biscuit cups for 2 minutes; remove from oven.

4. Spoon a portion of the meat mixture into each dough cup.  Bake in preheated oven for 12 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese, and bake for 3 more minutes.  Drizzle with additional BBQ sauce before serving if desired.