Barbecue Cups Make a Great Christmas Party Food

Barbecue Cups are a great party food. They are a perfect choice for the Christmas parties and potluck dinners coming up this season. Barbecue Cups are easy to make, easy to pick up and eat, and quite delicious. They are best if made the day of the party and served fresh, but they can be heated up in the oven or toaster oven if necessary. Here's what you'll need!

1 lb. ground beef or turkey
1 cup barbecue sauce
1 Tablespoon minced onion
2 Tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 8 oz. package refrigerated biscuits (the Pillsbury 4-pack works best)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Saute (fry) meat with onion; drain. Return meat and onion mix to skillet. Stir in the barbecue sauce, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce. Some of the amounts are a matter of taste; feel free to experiment a little. Let simmer gently on low heat.

Meanwhile, thoroughly grease a muffin pan with shortening. Open one biscuit roll, keeping the other rolls in the refrigerator. Separate the biscuits, and place one in each muffin cup. Gently spread the dough across the bottom and up the sides with the first two fingers of each hand, until the dough forms a little cup inside the muffin cup.

Fill each biscuit cup with the meat mixture from the skillet. Top each with cheddar cheese.

Bake for about 12 minutes, until brown. Remove the little biscuit cups, first loosening with a butter knife, then lifting the biscuit out of the muffin cup with a serving spoon. Let cool a little, but serve while still warm. These can be eaten as finger foods by holding the biscuit like a bowl.

The biscuits never come out evenly with this meal. Nobody ever thinks there are enough Barbecue Cups either; you can solve both problems by doubling the recipe and making more. If you don't want to do that, or the biscuits still don't come out evenly, a delicious alternative is to make Cheesy Biscuits. Place the extra biscuits in a small, round cake pan. Top each with a pat of butter, then shake Parmesan cheese on top of that. Bake at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes, until brown. These make a good addition to the bbq cups.