Jalapeno Poppers

Not my original recipe... a lightened version of Pioneer Woman's recipe.

What you’ll need:

10 Good size Jalapeno peppers, or 15 smallish ones

8oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese – make sure it doesn’t have garbage in it to make it lowfat!

1/2 – 1 C. shredded cheese

1/4 C. finely chopped onion

Bacon strips, uncooked

BBQ sauce

What you’ll do:

Preheat oven to 275.

Slice jalapeno’s vertically and remove pith and seeds. You can scrape out with a spoon (watch out for splattering!), or use a paring knife (my tool of choice). Keep stems in tact, just cut right through the middle of them.

Rub a little oil over a broiler pan. Lay your peppers on the pan, cut sides up.

In a bowl, mix together the cheeses and onion. Using your fingers, stuff the peppers with cheese. I just grab a glob and rub the open side of the pepper over my fingers, pushing the cheese in. Kind of a swing motion.

Cut strips of bacon into in half both vertically and horizontally to get 4 little “slices” out of each slice. Lay the 1/4 slice of bacon on top of the cheese and drizzle with BBQ sauce.

Pop pan in oven and bake for 1-2 hours… yes this is really a vast expanse of time, so prepare ahead…you can always keep them warm in the oven if they are done before you’re ready. I have found the bacon never cooks crispy enough in 1 hour. I think 1 hr and 45 mins is best, with a 2 minute broil at the end… but that’s just me!

Eat 'em...they're good! :)