Balsamic-Maple Glazed Chicken Drumsticks

It's not often that I scale recipes up to yield more servings. This was done to knock out all of the drumsticks out of my freezer at once. The seasonings were scaled to 1.5 times original quantities while the glaze quantities were kept original.

Balsamic Maple-Glazed Chicken Drumsticks

from Cooking Club of America

click to print

12 chicken legs

3/4 tsp salt
3/8 tsp pepper
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3/4 tsp dried oregano, preferably Greek
1/2 c balsamic vinegar
1/2 c pure maple syrup
1 1/2 tbsp butter, softened

Heat oven to 375°F. Line large rimmed baking sheet with foil; spray with cooking spray. Place chicken on baking sheet.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper; sprinkle with nutmeg and oregano.

 

 

Bake 40 minutes or until pale brown.

Meanwhile, bring vinegar and syrup to a boil in small saucepan over medium-high heat.


Boil 3 to 4 minutes or until thickened and reduced by almost half, swirling or stirring pan occasionally. Whisk in butter until melted.

 

Bring to a rapid boil; remove from heat.

 

Reserve 1/3 cup of the glaze; generously brush remaining glaze over chicken.


Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until chicken is golden brown and no longer pink in center. Brush with pan drippings. Drizzle with reserved glaze.
 


When baking, the nutmeg perfumed my apartment so much that I was concerned it'd be an overriding flavor on the chicken. The balsamic-maple glaze worked like a charm to compliment the dry seasonings but didn't pack the kapow punch I'd hoped - maybe further reduction would work there. The skin was sticky, but not rubbery. Most pleasant was how tender and juicy the drumsticks were.

I'd reserved the 1/3 cup of glaze to pour over the drumsticks post cooking, but thought the final addition would make the drumsticks too saucy for my preference and avoided using it. In the future, I'll cut the quantity of vinegar and maple syrup down to avoid that waste. Both of those ingredients are pricy.

Cost:

• drumsticks: $3.12
• balsamic vinegar: $1.33
• maple syrup: $1.69
• butter: $0.07

Total: $6.21 or $1.04 for each of six servings.