SWEET & SPICY HONEY GLAZED AIR FRIED CHICKEN WITH CHEESY ROSEMARY WAFFLES
INGREDIENTS FOR FRIED CHICKEN
WET MIX
5 chicken legs at room temp. (I can fit five comfortably in my Yedi Air Fryer)
2 eggs
1/2 a cup of buttermilk
coarse kosher salt
ground pepper
1 Tbsp of the spice mix
1/8 - 1/4 cup of hot sauce ( I used Truff hot sauce )
2 Tbsp of honey (I used Beekeepers Naturals Wild honey )
2-3 cloves of minced garlic
DRY MIX
2 cups of all purpose flour
coarse kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
2 Tbsp of the spice mix; I used Superfoods seasoning “Wild West” mix. If you want to make it yourself combine equal parts of cumin, coriander, turmeric, oregano, rosemary, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika. (2 tsp of each).
1 Tbsp of corn starch
1 tsp baking powder
INGREDIENTS FOR CHEESY WAFFLES
WET MIX
1 egg
1 1/2 cups of oat milk ( I used Oatly)
1 Tbsp vanilla ext.
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
3 Tbsp of unsalted butter, melted
DRY MIX
2 cups of all purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
2 Tbsp light brown sugar
once batter is mixed add in…
1 cup of sharp cheddar cheese, small diced
1 cup of parmesan cheese, small diced
1 cup of mozzarella cheese , shredded
4 sprigs of fresh rosemary, minced
TOOLS
Waffle iron
Whisk
DIRECTIONS
Start by bringing the chicken and eggs to room temperature by leaving them out on the counter for 15-30 min (longer if chicken was frozen).
To bread the chicken you will need to make a wet and dry mix. Starting with the wet mix, combine in a deep pan or baking dish, the eggs, buttermilk, kosher salt, pepper, spice mix, hot sauce, honey and minced garlic. Use a whisk to fully incorporate, and set aside until needed.
Next, to make the dry mix you will need to combine the flour, kosher salt, pepper, spice mix, corn starch and baking powder into a large ziplock bag.
Now that the wet and dry mix are assembled and the chicken is at room temperature, you can begin the dredging process. Place the chicken legs into the wet mix, completely coat and let sit for 10 minutes (this will help absorb the flavors and give the buttermilk a chance to tenderize the meat).
Now, to coat the chicken with the flour/ dry mix. One at a time, take the chicken leg and drop it into the bag and give it a good shake, use your hands on the exterior of the bag to get the chicken leg completely coated.
Once the chicken leg is coated with the flour mix, remove it from the bag and let it sit on a clean tray to rest. Repeat this process until all the chicken is coated and placed on the tray. Let the dredged chicken legs rest on the tray for 10-15 minuets, this allows the flour mix to meld with the skin of the chicken. This will ensure a crisper skin.
To air fry the chicken, place the legs into the air fryer inner pan and spray with olive oil (you can also use coconut oil, canola oil, etc. ) make sure to completely cover the chicken legs with the oil spray leaving no flour area uncovered. Because you are not deep frying you will need to spray the chicken again half way through the cooking process when you flip them over.
Select the chicken setting for the Yedi Air Fryer, or manually input 360 degrees for 25 minutes cook time. Remember to flip and spray the chicken with your oil of choice at the 15 minute mark.
While the chicken is cooking begin to make the waffle batter. Start off by mixing together all the ingredients in the “dry mix”; flour, salt, baking powder, granulated sugar, and light brown sugar.
Next, to make the “wet mix” start off by melting 3 Tbsp of unsalted butter to add into the remainder of the ingredients. combine the oat milk, vanilla ext. vanilla bean paste, and melted butter together and whisk to cool down the mixture before adding in the egg (this will prevent the egg from scrambling).
Now that the “wet” and “dry” mixes are prepared you can combine the two, whisking to fully incorporate. When you have a nice smooth consistency of batter, you can then add in the 3 cheeses and fresh rosemary, combine using a spatula to fully incorporate all the flavors together.
Next, to cook the waffles, simply add the mixed cheesy waffle batter in the amount that fits your waffle iron (I like to use a mini ice cream scooper) and cook to your specific machine instructions. PRO TIP: Because there is cheese in the batter you may want to start out putting a little less than usual in the waffle iron to see how much oozes out, then make the proper adjustments.
When the chicken is done, drizzle some honey over the top, and (optional) sprinkle some minced rosemary for extra flavor.
Once you have both the fried chicken and the waffles made, place them on a platter and serve immediately (that way the chicken is extra crispy and at the cheese in the waffles are still gooey) with a side of honey.
Enjoy your air fried chicken and cheesy waffles!
