BBQ Beef Cups

I am always looking for quick and easy dinners to make on busy weeknights -- aren't we all?  I found this recipe a few months ago, and it was such a winner with my family that I thought it was worth sharing.  It totally fits the "quick and easy" bill so makes a perfect meal for one of those nights when your kids have sports or other activities that you need to hustle to.  It probably isn't the most healthy recipe you'll find, but if you wanted, you could make it lower-fat by using ground turkey instead of ground beef, and using reduced-fat biscuits.

BBQ Beef Cups

1 lb. ground beef

1 small onion, minced

1/2 cup barbeque sauce

1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1 tube (12 oz.) refrigerated biscuits

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease the cups of a muffin tip.  Separate the can of biscuits and, with your fingers, press each piece of biscuit dough into a flat circle.  [Tip:  Look for biscuits that have 10-12 biscuits in a 12 oz. can.  Do NOT use Grands biscuits, or ones that are similarly big.]  Carefully fit each circle of dough into one of the muffin cups; it's important that the circle is large enough so that the dough comes to the very top of the muffin cup.  Meanwhile, brown the ground beef and onion in a skillet over medium high heat until beef is no longer pink and onion is tender.  Drain off grease.  Stir in the barbeque sauce.  Now, fill each of the dough cups in the muffin tin with some of the meat mixture.  Top each cup with a little bit of the shredded cheese. 

Here's a picture of how the cups will look just before you slide them into the oven:

Now bake the cups in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, until the biscuits are browned and look done.  Carefully remove cups from muffin tin to serve.  Here's how they'll look after you take them out of the oven:

Don't they look yummy?  And I promise, your kids will gobble them up!  Oh, and just in case you're worried about it, you shouldn't have any problems getting the finished beef cups out of the muffin tin.  Biscuit dough contains some fat, and if you've also greased the muffin tin cups ahead of time, the finished goodies should pop right out.  Add a vegetable and a glass of milk, and dinner is served!