Chicken Drumsticks went on sale this week so I picked up a couple of packs. I went onto Pinterest to find a recipe. I was in the mood for finger lickin' sticky drumsticks for supper. I picked a recipe that had a few hundred repins hoping for a good one. When I clicked through to the recipe, there honestly wasn't much of a recipe there. The ingredients were: 3 - 3 1/2 lbs. chicken, 2 cups barbecue sauce and an unspecified amount of garlic powder, seasoned salt, salt and pepper. At first I thought "no way, I'm looking up another recipe" but I ended up giving it a try for better or for worse. I found the method curious also, I felt she cooked them for a long, long time. I usual cook my chicken for a shorter amount of time but at a higher heat. But I followed all the directions (well almost all of the directions) and here is how it went.
Here's what you need.
This is the part where I didn't follow the directions. They said to put a rack on a baking sheet and put tin foil over top of the chicken and cover it tightly. I have never cooked bone-in chicken covered with foil. Perhaps she did this to keep it from overcooking and drying out, she didn't say. But this honestly is an awful idea. If you want to achieve that crispy outside on the chicken you need to cook it uncovered. Your chicken won't be dry, unless you cook it too long.
Now I experimented with the measurements for the seasoning a bit and here's what I came up with. 2 teaspoons garlic powder (if you only have garlic salt, just omit the regular salt), 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Notice I omitted the seasoned salt. To tell you the truth I had missed this ingredient when I read the recipe. It probably would have been to salty if I had added it though. Mix these three ingredients well and either sprinkle all over the chicken or mix in a bowl with the chicken. Just make sure you get an even coating, this really helps getting the chicken crispy. Come to think of it, this would be a great alternative to Shake and Bake!
I highly recommend spraying your rack with non-stick spray. It will save some frustration!
Place your drumsticks on the rack and get this into the lower half of the oven at 350°F. Bake for 45 minutes, flipping halfway through.
Pull the chicken out and brush it on all sides with barbecue sauce.
I ended up mixing 2 barbecue sauces together here. I love the flavor of the Diana Rib and Chicken sauce and the President's Choice Tequila Habanero, it's sweet and spicy. But most importantly, it's sticky which is so good for this recipe.
Return chicken to the oven and bake for another 30 minutes. Then crank the heat up to 450°F and baste the chicken again with the barbecue sauce. I basted one side, baked for 2-3 minutes and then basted the other side and baked for another 2-3 minutes. You should keep an eye on it at this stage because the sugars in the barbecue sauce can start to burn pretty easily.
Don't they look good! I could have eaten the whole batch on my own. They were perfectly cooked! Not dry at all.
Love that sticky crispy skin! I served mine with oven fries and steamed asparagus.
Click here for a printable recipe.
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