#1,803: Brown Sugar Meatloaf

I ended up throwing this recipe into my oven a little late, and knew my family was too hungry to let this cook for an hour if I made it into a loaf pan.  So I got out my trusty pampered chef square brownie pan and made these mini size so they would cook faster.  I flipped these over when they were about 3/4 of the way done cooking so both sides could brown up more, which I'm glad I did, but the brown sugar/BBQ sauce that was on the bottom got a little overdone, hence the darker spots you see in the photo.  My family LOVED this.  Especially my non-meat eating 4 year old!  Seriously, we had to cut him off after asking for more 4 times.  I will definitely make this again for my crew!!

½ cup light brown sugar

½ cup BBQ sauce

1 small onion, small diced (about 1 cup)

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

½ teaspoon smoked paprika

¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

2 pounds lean ground beef (I used ground turkey)

2 eggs

¾ cup milk

1 cup finely crushed Ritz Cracker crumbs

Preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C.  Lightly spray a 9x5 loaf pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.

Spread the brown sugar into the bottom of the pan evenly. Top the brown sugar with the BBQ sauce. Set the pan aside.

In a large bowl combine the remaining ingredients and using your hands mix everything together evenly. Try not to over work the meat, which will result in a dense loaf.

Place the meat on top of the BBQ sauce and press evenly into the pan.

Bake the meatloaf for 60-70 minutes until the juices run clear or a meat thermometer inserted in the center reads 160°F/70°C. (I baked mine at 375 degrees for about 15 min, then turned the heat up to 400 for about 15 min or so). 

Allow the meat to rest for 15 minutes. Drain the excess fat and transfer the meat to a platter to serve. (Because I used ground turkey AND made these in mini form, there was no excess fat to drain off).