Cupcake Chicken

that's right. cupcakes. chicken. together at last.

it's the combo you've been waiting for. tender, moist, juicy chicken topped with decadent, creamy, sweet cream cheese frosting.

if you're mouth is watering with anticipation, you should consult a psychiatrist immediately. don't delay.

on a recent trip to this place:

we got to spend some WONDERFUL quality time with family, including my cousin andrew, who consequently is an amazing chef and has the second cutest kind on the face of the planet (the first of course is my son). he introduced us to cupcake chicken.

the trip to the lake house was our first time to see my husband in a month, and it was a 4 day weekend for him, so we got plenty of daddy time. after we parted ways and both went to our temporary homes, we were chatting on skype one night.

me: what was your favorite part of the trip?
h: i can't really pick one...
me: ok, your top 3.
h: jp climbing all over me in the bed in the morning, jet-skiing with you, and cupcake chicken.

(NOTE! WE DON'T CO-SLEEP!!! when jp wakes up at 7am, i am still too groggy to function, so he plays in bed with me while i wake up. this routine was started before i discovered coffee.)

so, obviously, cupcake chicken has amazing powers.

while transplanting my tomatoes into bigger pots this morning (in case you were wondering, planting nearly 40 seeds of tomatoes because you're afraid most will die is a poor idea. you'll end up with more tomato plants than you can ever give away.), i noticed that some of my plants needed pruning, the thyme in particular.

i ended up cutting off nearly half of the plant and didn't want to let fresh thyme go to waste. we happen to have my sister and BIL in town (and she's prego!) so we have quite a few mouths to feed-- cupcake chicken it is!!

literally cupcake shaped chicken. it's on the grill right now. if only i could grill up some of these along with it

but alas, they are not yet ripe!

want the recipe for this miraculous chicken? i knew you did.

Dry rub:

1/2 c brown sugar

1/4 c paprika

1 tbls each salt, pepper, garlic salt, onion powder, chili powder

1 tsp cayenne pepper

12 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

muffin tins

grease up those cupcake tins!

open up the chicken thighs and cut the bone out of each one

rub some of your bbq-y concoction all over the inside

roll it up with the skin on the outside and put the bottom of you chicken thigh-ball into the muffin tin. it should look like a muffin with a chicken skin top. 

slather some more of the dry rub atop those puppies

do it to all of 'em

bake/grill at 275 until the internal temp reads 165 degrees

pull the skin off and CHOW DOWN!!!!!

feel free to share some delicious grill ideas with me. i basically idolize food.