Baked BBQ Onion Rings

In my college chemistry class, we extracted the fat and oils from a few different fast food snacks.  One of them was a french fry from Mcdonald's, and one of them was an onion ring from Sonic.  I loved sonic onion rings, and I was beyond grossed out when I saw how much oily disgustingness was hiding within the crunchy, breaded rings.  I can't remember how much it was exactly, but I remember it being a ridiculous amount.  That made me steer clear from french fries and onion rings for a while (until I forgot exactly how much fat they contained, which I then continued to eat them).

Sorry for the awful pictures, these were taken at night, with my older camera.

These onion rings are a bit healthier than Sonic's version, and I like them about just as much.  They're crispy on the outside, soft on the inside with a hint of BBQ sauce mixed in.

Baked BBQ Onion Rings

from JoyTheBaker

1 medium onion, sliced into rings

1/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 paprika

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1 egg

1/8 cup buttermilk

dash hot sauce

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

1/4 cup sour cream

1/8 cup BBQ sauce

Preheat oven to  400.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, paprika, chili powder, red pepper flakes and garlic powder.  In a separate bowl, Whisk together egg, buttermilk and hot sauce.  In yet another bowl, dump the breadcrumbs.

separate sliced onion into individual rings.  Dip rings first in the flour mixture, then the egg mixture, and then the panko.  Line up on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.  

Bake for 10 minutes, flip onion rings and bake for another 10-12 minutes, until the rings are golden brown and crisp. 

Mix together the sour cream and bbq sauce.  Serve with onion rings.