Okay, so I know I’m usually pretty passionate about my recipes, but the one I’m about to share with you deserves some extra credit. Why? Well, for starters, it tastes like fried chicken, but it’s not fried. Next, it’s Gluten free, but absolutely positively doesn’t taste like it. This, my friends, is most definitely the best non-fried fried chicken I have ever had, and actually, it’s probably better than the actual fried chicken I’ve had.

I was looking for a healthy(ish) recipe for ‘fried’ chicken, but as I’m not eating flour right now (I’ve convinced myself that flour is the enemy in the fight against losing the rest of my baby weight), I knew finding a good gluten-free one would be a challenge. I adapted parts of the Simply Gluten Free blog for the recipe, but decided to bake it instead of frying it. Seriously, D thought that a) they were fried and b) they were made with flour. They were amazingly crispy on the outside and moist and tender on the inside. And the flavour? Whoa. Amazingness all around. I also made a delicious honey-dijon dipping sauce that went perfectly with the chicken. To finish it off, I served it with a creamy broccoli ‘slaw. Perfect!

Oh, and if you don’t actually need to eat gluten-free, you can of course make this recipe with regular flour (just omit to rice flour and potato/tapioca starch). Either way, get ready for some serious deliciousness.

Drumsticks bathing in a bath of buttermilk and paprika

Getting a nice coat of egg and flour/spice mix

Ingredients – Chicken

8-10 chicken drumsticks (or other chicken pieces, if you wish)
1/2 carton of buttermilk (or just enough to coat the chicken pieces)
3 large eggs
1 cup white or brown rice flour
1/3 cup potato or tapioca starch
1 tsp sea salt, plus more for seasoning the chicken
½ tsp black pepper, plus more for seasoning the chicken
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp paprika
1/4 cup of salted butter, cut into squares
Pam cooking spray

Ingredients – Spicy honey-dijon dipping sauce

1/2 cup mayonaise
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp honey
cayenne pepper, to taste
paprika, to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Put the chicken in a shallow dish and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of paprika. Then, pour the buttermilk over the chicken until all pieces are well covered. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Remove the chicken from the buttermilk and pat dry with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper.

Whisk the eggs together in a small bowl and put aside. In another bowl whisk together the rice flour, potato/tapioca starch, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper, garlic powder and paprika.

Dip the drumsticks into the egg mixture, then shake off the excess and coat well with the flour mixture. Place on a plate and once all the chicken is coated let sit for 5 minutes. Coat the chicken in the flour mixture again. This part is so important so don’t skip over it!

Line a 9×13 lipped cookie sheet with the butter pieces and place in the over for about a minute, letting it melt but careful not to let it burn. Once hot, remove from the oven and spread the melted butter so that the entire pan is covered, and place the coated drums on top of the melted butter. Spray the chicken with PAM cooking spray (yes, on top of the coating – this will help it get crispy). Bake for 15 minutes on each side. Don’t get lazy with this step, friends. It’s very, very important to turn the chicken to get the amazing crispiness on both sides.

For the dipping sauce, combine all sauce ingredients and blend until smooth. Set aside until ready for dipping.

Remove the chicken when done, and serve hot with a side of ‘slaw. Get ready to be in serious friednotfried chicken heaven.