Bready or Not: Maple BBQ Chicken Tenders
It has come to my attention that I haven’t featured a maple recipe since March. So let’s remedy that with a meaty recipe for from-scratch Maple Barbecue Chicken.
Yep, you create your own BBQ sauce for this recipe! It’s full of maple goodness with just the right balance of savory-sweet. You divvy up the sauce, using some to marinate the meat and reserving the rest for eating time.
Use this base recipe to cook the chicken however you want. Grill it. Roast it in your oven. Whatever gets the meat cooked and chewed and in your belly.
Maple makes everything better, right?
Modified from A Dash of Sanity.
Bready or Not: Maple BBQ Chicken Tenders
Ingredients
- 3 - 4 pounds chicken tenders
- 1/2 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 Tablespoon Worchester sauce
- 2 teaspoons ground mustard
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Place the chicken tenders in a sturdy gallon sealable bag. In a bowl, mix together all of the other ingredients. Pour enough of the sauce into the bag to coat the chicken; reserve the rest of the sauce for serving later. (If the sauce gets contaminated by the raw meat, boil it to make sure it's safe to eat.)
- Let the chicken marinate in the fridge for anywhere from 2 hours to a day.
- Heat up your grill [or, alternatively, bake it in your oven]. Grill the chicken at medium heat for 4 minutes, then turn to cook another 4 minutes, and longer as needed. Check for doneness by testing the temperature in a thick section; it should be at least 170-degrees.
- Serve immediately. Chicken is fantastic hot or cold, and can be frozen with sauce for later enjoyment, too.
- OM NOM NOM!
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Bready or Not: Maple Raisin Bars
If you like chewy maple goodness, then these Maple Raisin Bars are for you!
So you ever look at a recipe and think, “Hey, that looks good, but I want to change half the ingredients around?” That’s how this recipe came about. I look at another recipe and decided to give it an overhaul. Golden raisins instead of apricots. Honey instead of molasses. And so on.
The result? Chewy, cakey bars with delightful gems of golden raisins sprinkled throughout. The turbinado sugar on top adds a special sparkle.
They taste kind of like gingerbread just, well, without any ginger. That’s the closest comparison I can make.
Even better, these keep well for days at room temperature, and they can also be frozen for later enjoyment.
Yep, these will be greatly enjoyed. Now or later.
Bready or Not: Maple Raisin Bars
Ingredients
- 1 cup bread flour
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup golden raisins
- 3/4 cup maple sugar
- 1/2 cup avocado oil or canola oil
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/2 cup milk or almond milk
- 3 teaspoons turbinado sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line a 9x13 pan with aluminum foil and apply nonstick spray or butter.
- In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Stir in the raisins. Set bowl aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together maple sugar, oil, honey, and milk. Slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry until fully combined. Scrape the dough into the prepared pan, making sure the raisins are well distributed. Sprinkle turbinado sugar all over the top.
- Bake for 24 to 28 minutes, until the dough has puffed and it passes the toothpick test in the middle.
- Let it cool completely. Lift out of pan with the foil and cut into squares. Store in a sealed container with waxed paper or parchment paper between the layers. Will keep well at room temperature for days, or can be frozen for weeks.
- OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Maple Chicken Thighs
You know I love maple-flavored sweets. Maple works in a savory way, too–and creates meaty magic in this recipe for Maple Chicken Thighs.
This is some seriously good chicken. It marinates for up to a day in the fridge, resulting in tender, lightly-sweetened chicken. It does not create a heavy glaze and it’s not like teriyaki. It is… just plain delicious.
Honestly, I think the leftovers are even better. This chicken is phenomenal cut up in a salad or used with a touch of dressing in a wrap.
This is yet another recipe inspired from the cookbook Maple by Katie Webster. (Seriously, if you love maple, get this book.) The original version of this recipe included shallots (which I never buy) and apples and pears (which I knew my husband wouldn’t want with his supper).
Give this chicken recipe a try, and discover a new way to love maple!
Bready or Not: Maple Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup apple cider or apple juice
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 3 green onions white parts only, chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 1/2 - 3 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs each thigh cut into thirds
Instructions
The day or night before serving
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the apple cider/juice, maple syrup, vinegar, white portions of green onions, ginger, thyme, salt, and pepper. In a gallon-size re-sealable bag, place the cut-up chicken. Pour in the marinade and seal the bag.
- Refrigerate the bag for 12-24 hours, turning the bag every so often.
To cook
- Preheat oven at 425-degrees. Place the chicken in a 13x9 baking dish with all or some of the marinade; the chicken shouldn't be fully covered.
- Bake for about 40 minutes, turning chicken once at the halfway point.
- Chicken is fabulous fresh and as leftovers! Cooked chicken can also be portioned and frozen.
OM NOM NOM!
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Bready or Not: Maple Pecan Pie Bars
These Maple Pecan Pie Bars offer all the goodness of pecan pie in a form that is 1) more readily portable, 2) keeps well for up to a week, 3) freezable.
Oh, and did I mention these are DELICIOUS? They seriously are. My dad is a native Alabaman and he knows pecan pie and pecan in all forms. He LOVED these bars.
The base is shortbread, and atop that is a just-right thickness of pecans in syrup. This avoids the usual butt-ton of corn syrup that other recipes use and relies on a combo of maple syrup and brown sugar. Which is… maybe healthier? Kinda?
What matters to me, though, is that it tastes good. The maple syrup adds the right sweetness here to complement the nuts.
You don’t have to use pecans here, either. You could certainly try walnuts, cashews, or a combination. Do go for “softer” nuts, though, to make it easier to cut the bars.
I froze a bunch of pecan bars between layers of waxed paper in a freezer container. They thawed again with no difference in taste. They also keep well for at least a week, making these a good candidate for shipping.
As my dad can attest, these bars are perfect for breakfast, snack, or dessert. While you could eat them along with vanilla ice cream, they are good eaten out of hand. Heck, you can even zap them in the microwave if you want them warmed.
However or whenever you eat them, these Maple Pecan Bars will be delicious.
Modified from Bake or Break.
Bready or Not: Maple Pecan Pie Bars
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter 1 stick, cold, cut into pieces
Filling
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter 1/2 stick, melted and cooled for a few minutes
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups pecans or mixed soft nuts like walnuts or cashews
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Line a 13x9-inch pan with parchment paper and lightly apply butter or nonstick spray along the bottom and sides.
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, brown sugar, and salt. Add the cold butter and use a pastry blender or a fork to mash it down into small crumbles. The overall mix will feel sandy, but it'll hold together after baking.
- Pour the crust mixture into the prepared pan. Use some wax paper and a heavy glass to compress the crumbs.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Set aside as you make the filling.
- Lightly beat the eggs in a large bowl. Add the maple syrup, melted-and-cooled butter, brown sugar, white sugar, and salt, stirring until combined. Stir in the pecans to coat.
- Pour filling over the partially baked crust. Bake for another 30 to 35 minutes, or until filling is set.
- Cool bars to room temperature and then use the overhanging parchment to lift the contents out to cut into bars. Store in a sealed container for up to a week, or freeze bars for later enjoyment.
- OM NOM NOM!
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Bready or Not: Quick Maple Cookie Fudge
It’s holiday time, so that means it’s time for super-fast microwave Maple Cookie Fudge!
“But Beth,” I hear you saying, “You just featured a fudge recipe a month ago!”
Aha! I did indeed. That pumpkin fudge is delicious indeed, with its texture and taste like pumpkin frosting, but it also gets soft if it’s not kept chilled. THIS fudge recipe has endurance. Fortitude. Maple.
This is a shortcut fudge without any need of a candy thermometer or stress. I like to use the microwave, but you can use the stovetop if you want. You can keep the maple cookies chunky, if you desire, or grind everything to crumbs–your choice! I actually like some small chunks mixed in for texture.
The maple flavor is nice and consistent here, not cloying, while the marshmallow fluff grants the texture some extra oomph. If you want, you can add in some nuts as well, but if you keep your cookies kinda chunky, they can add some nut-like texture to the squares.
This would be the perfect quick fudge to make for a holiday party where everything needs to stay out on a counter for hours! The leftovers will keep very well in a sealed container in the fridge, too.
Come to think of it, this maple cookie fudge is just about perfect if you ignore the pesky nutritional side of things.
Bready or Not: Quick Maple Cookie Fudge
Ingredients
- 3 cups white chocolate chips
- 20 maple crème cookies crushed/chopped/maimed
- 7 ounce marshmallow fluff jar
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk can
- 1 teaspoon maple flavor
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup nuts chopped walnuts/pecans/macadamia, optional
Instructions
- Prepare a 9x13 pan by lining it with foil and applying nonstick spray.
- Either in microwave or on stovetop, carefully melt chocolate with canned milk and marshmallow cream. If microwaving, do it in short bursts because it can burn fast! Stir often.
- When the mix is smooth, add the maple flavor and vanilla. Fold in the maple cookies. Use an uneven spatula to smooth out the top.
- Refrigerate at least 3 hours, until the fudge is firm. Cut into bite size pieces. Keep stored in fridge between layers of wax paper. Unlike some other quick fudges, this will keep well for hours at room temperature.
- OM NOM NOM!
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Bready or Not: Maple Walnut White Chocolate Cookies
These Maple Walnut White Chocolate Cookies are light, crisp, and full of maple goodness.
Story prompts inspire stories. Cookbooks inspire new spins on already-great recipes. In this case, I found my inspiration in the cookbook MAPLE, which also provided the basis for my Maple Pear Galette and part of my Maple Apple Pie (aka Voltron Pie).
I loved the look of the original recipe, but right off the top, I knew I needed to make some adaptations. I don’t keep whole wheat pastry flour around. I decided to substitute with cake flour since it was also lower in gluten.
As a result, the cookies are surprisingly light and crisp. However, this also means they can overcook–and fast! Keep an eye on them as they near the end of baking time. Better to have them slightly underdone when you pull them from the oven, as they’ll finish cooking on the cookie sheet.
I also went with white chocolate rather than milk or dark chocolate. I find the mellowness of white chocolate better works with maple flavor.
Now, maple sugar can be pricy stuff at supermarkets, if you can find it at all. I buy it in bulk at Amazon. If you glance through my maple recipes, you’ll find plenty of ways to use it up!
Walnuts–and other nuts–are easy to roast in your oven. Line a rimmed pan with foil. Add the nuts in an even layer. Bake at 350-degrees for like 7 to 10 minutes, shifting them once sometime in there, until the nuts are fragrant. Let’em cool, then use them or eat them.
The combination of flavors here–maple, white chocolate, walnuts–makes these the perfect cookies for autumn.
… Except, well, if you know me, I believe in summoning up the goodness of maple all year round. Awesome things shouldn’t be confined to one season.
Bready or Not: Maple Walnut White Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 cup maple sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 Tablespoons avocado oil or canola oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup cake flour
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 cup walnuts roasted and chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 375-degrees. Prepare baking sheets with parchment paper or a silpat mat.
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and maple sugar until creamy. Beat in the egg followed by the oil and vanilla. Scrape the sides of the bowl.
- In another bowl, whisk together the two flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mix until they are just combined. Stir in the white chocolate chips and walnuts.
- Use a tablespoon scoop to dole out dough onto the prepared sheet pan, leaving space for each cookie to spread. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes, or until cookies puff and are just turning golden--watch them carefully at the end, as they can overcook quickly! Let them cool on the sheet about ten minutes and then transfer to a rack to completely cool.
- OM NOM NOM!
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