Maui Dreams: Crispy Baked Jalapeño Buttermilk Chicken

What seems to be almost a lifetime ago is when we ventured out to the beautiful island of Maui for a relaxing getaway from life’s stresses. One of my favorite things during this trip was the smell of the flower encumbered air when you got off the plane that instantly put you into the “relax” mode –– ahhhhhhh. To this day, it was the most relaxing trip I’ve ever had. We did manage to do a few tourist-y things such as a luau, sipping a few umbrella drinks, and getting our leis on but most of the trip was spent at the beach with a picnic for the entire day. The majority of these picnics consisted of fresh island fruits, a bag of chips or crackers, a few beverages, and some good ole fried chicken. Since this time of my life, I always seem to get a hankerin’ for some crispy legs during the hot season. This week I opted out of the traditional frying method and went for a crispy baked version. Stocking up on my farmers market jalapeños –– which freeze very well by the way –– and tossing the chicken in with some fresh and creamy buttermilk gives this Crispy Baked Jalapeño Buttermilk Chicken a lot of flavor. We ate these hot-out-of-the-oven for dinner the first night but I have to say they made for a pretty, gosh darn, great lunch the next day.

Print Recipe

Crispy Baked Jalapeño Buttermilk Chicken

Prep Time

10-15 Minutes

Cook Time

20-30 Minutes

Servings

Servings

Ingredients

• 2 Pounds fresh chicken drumstick legs
• 2 Cups fresh buttermilk
• 2-3 Medium jalapenos sliced thinly into rounds - seeds removed if desired
• 1/2 Cups fresh cilantro chopped
• 2 Large eggs whisked
• 1 Cup all-purpose flour
• 4-5 Cups butter crackers crumbled into small breadcrumb size pieces
• 1 Teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 Teaspoon ground black pepper

Prep Time 10-15 Minutes Cook Time 20-30 Minutes Servings Servings Ingredients 2 Pounds fresh chicken drumstick legs 2 Cups fresh buttermilk 2-3 Medium jalapenos sliced thinly into rounds - seeds removed if desired 1/2 Cups fresh cilantro chopped 2 Large eggs whisked 1 Cup all-purpose flour 4-5 Cups butter crackers crumbled into small breadcrumb size pieces 1 Teaspoon onion powder 1/2 Teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 Teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 Teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Place drumsticks into a large sealable bag. Add buttermilk, jalapeños and cilantro and place into the refrigerator for one hour up to overnight flipping the bag around at the halfway point.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place a cooling rack into a cookie sheet pan and set aside. Place the flour in one bowl and the eggs in another bowl. In a separate bowl add the crackers, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper and mix together well. Roll one of the buttermilk soaked drumsticks through the flour bowl to coat all sides. Next, place into the egg bowl and roll the drumstick coating all sides. Finally roll through the cracker bowl to coat all sides of the drumstick and place onto the prepared cookie sheet. continue the process until all the drumsticks are coated and on the cookie sheet. Top each one with a slice a slice of jalapeño if desired.
3. Place coated chicken into the oven for 20-30 minutes or until lightly golden in color and cooked through. Remove from the oven and let sit for 5-10 minutes then serve.