Piggy Biscuits w/Caramelized Onion

This recipe is an interesting story. I set out to make one thing and ended up with something totally different. I was originally going to make these bacon wrapped smokies that I found on Pinterest, but the more I thought about it the guiltier I felt. The recipe consisted of four ingredients: bacon; smokies; brown sugar; and butter. While that sounds really good and the picture of them looked even better, I just couldn't, in good conscience, feed anyone that much fat in one concentrated little meat by-product. I just didn't feel good about it (I was taking these to church). I had already bought the ingredients though, so I had a big 2# bag of smokies that I needed to do something with. My husband suggested I make the traditional pigs-in-a-blanket with the refrigerated crescent rolls, but I didn't have any crescent rolls and was too lazy to go to the store. So, I expended my energy thinking (one of my favorite ways to burn calories.....it does burn calories, right?) and came up with these.

Piggy Biscuits w/Caramelized Onion
Copyright 2012 Brendilly Bakes, All rights reserved

Makes 24 biscuits

Ingredients
4cups All-Purpose Flour
4t. Baking Powder
2t. Kosher Salt
1t. freshly ground Black Pepper
2T. California Style Onion Powder
1T. Garlic Powder
2/3 cup Butter, cut up
1 large Onion, caramelized and cooled (recipe following)
2 cups Buttermilk
1/2 T. Butter
24 Little Smokies
Shredded Colby Jack Cheese

I don't think my method for caramelizing onions is what you could call "traditional", but they come out tasting really good. I hope you like it.

To Caramelize Onions
Place 2T. butter and 2T. olive oil in a skillet. Cut onion in quarters then slice thinly and add to cold skillet with butter and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and a pinch of red pepper flake. Over medium-low heat, cook until soft and golden, about 20 minutes. Add 1-2T. Worcestershire sauce and continue cooking until the Worcestershire has evaporated and the onions are caramelized, about another 10 minutes.

Biscuit Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325. Cover a cookie sheet with foil.
2. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients and whisk well.
3. Cut the 2/3 cup of butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two knives.
4. Add cooled onions to the dry ingredients and cut in with a pastry blender until mostly combined. Finish stirring in and combining with a fork.
5. Add Buttermilk to dry ingredients and mix with a fork.
6. Melt the 1/2 T. butter on foil-lined cookie sheet in the warm oven.
7. Once the butter is melted, remove cookie sheet from the oven and spread the butter all around the cookie sheet with a pastry brush or paper towel. Drop biscuit batter by large spoonfuls (I used an ice cream scoop) onto cookie sheet.
8. Place one smokie on top of each biscuit, pushing it into the biscuit.
9. Bake for 10 minutes, then top each biscuit with a sprinkling of shredded cheese and bake for 3 more minutes.


All dressed up and ready for church.

NOTE: My husband didn't really care for the bread to meat ratio in these, so I'm going to try it again and make the biscuits smaller and see how that works. I'll let you know. :-)