Basted with a maple flavored barbecue sauce; this recipe produces a mildly sweet and sticky-yummy chicken. Served with biscuits and corn on the cob, it is a great way to enjoy barbecue flavor (indoors) during the fast approaching winter season.
Start with a nice big chicken; I usually buy whole chickens that are about 4 pounds. I split it down the back (removing the backbone) so that you can lay it out flat; it cooks very evenly that way.
Place the chicken (rinsed and patted dry) in a baking dish and brush it with the following quick-mix sauce:
1/3 cup REAL maple syrup (not pancake syrup)
1/3 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon (dry) salt free seasoning (I use Penzey's)
pinch of cayenne pepper (more if you like heat)
generous quarter teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
Mix well and pour over the chicken, making sure it coats everything. Bake at 350° for 90 minutes*, basting every 30 minutes or so.
Any kind of (dry) salt free seasoning will work,
we like the Penzey brand
Mildly Sweet and Sticky, just right!!
We like a whole baked chicken, but I'm sure this would
work well on a cut up chicken too.
NOTE: I bake four pound chickens (at 350°) for about 90 minutes, but the baking time for YOUR chicken depends on how big it is.
