Slow Cooker Dr. Pepper BBQ Ribs

I am what you would call a fair weather winter person.  Growing up in the Midwest, it doesn’t seem right to NOT have snow on the ground at Christmastime, but by the time mid-January hits, I am tired of the dreary grey skies and the cold and the white stuff that has now turned a not so pretty white.

My son has been home from college for the last month, and he returns this weekend.  I have been letting him get in his dinner requests this week. Yesterday though, I thought I would wing it.  I had some boneless country style pork ribs in the freezer, so I defrosted them and decided to have barbecue.  My family NEVER argues about barbecue, it’s something I know that everyone will be happy about.

After they cooked slow all day, becoming so tender I could barely move them to my baking rack, I knew they would be awesome.  I transferred them to a rack over a cookie sheet, and brushed them with a combination of BBQ sauce and more Dr. Pepper.  The sauce was super yummy!  I baked them for 30 minutes to caramelize the sauce, flipping them once and adding more sauce.

INGREDIENTS

• 4.5 pounds boneless country style pork ribs
• 2 cans Dr. Pepper soda, divided
• 3/4 cup BBQ sauce (your favorite, we love our Sweet Baby Ray's!)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Place ribs in the bottom of your slow cooker, pour 1 can of soda over them. Cover and slow cook for 7 hours on low or 4 hours on high.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover a cookie sheet with foil then place a wire rack over the top.
3. Combine 3/4 cup BBQ sauce with 1/2 cup Dr. Pepper soda.
4. Carefully remove the ribs from the slow cooker, placing on rack. Brush tops with sauce. Bake for 15 minutes, flip and brush other side. Bake 15 minutes more.
5. Serve remaining sauce at the table.