Chicken in a Waffle Bites

This is a very unconventional recipe that I first found on the foodnetwork on this link: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/chicken-and-waffles-on-a-stick-recipe/index.html

I made the exact recipe and the food turned out ok but I was not a fan.  This is how they turned out:

I then began my search for a real waffle iron that would make a better version of the above recipe.  This is what I found:

After finding a great waffle iron I went on a search for great waffle batter.  I got the recipe from Todd Wilbur's website: http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/Waffle-House-Waffles-Recipe.html

This was a recipe that is supposed to be similar to Waffle House's waffle recipe.  After combining a better spice combination for the chicken and using the waffle batter I finally got the recipe for great chicken and waffles mixed together.  This recipe yields about 12 chicken in waffle bites.  

**The original recipe called for using skewers and called it chicken and waffles on a stick but I took the skewers out because I was not a fan of it**

Ingredients

Fried Chicken:

12 chicken tenders

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon black pepper

3 teaspoon seasoned salt

1 ½ cup all-purpose flour

3 cups canola oil

Salt and pepper (for taste)

Waffle:

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 egg

½ cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

2 tablespoons butter, softened

2 tablespoons shortening

½ cup half-and-half

½ cup 2% milk

¼ cup buttermilk

¼ teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Fried chicken – Take the tenderloins and cut them into thirds.  Then place the pieces in between a piece of syran wrap.  Begin to pound the tenderloins into flattened pieces of about ½ to 1 inch thick. 

Add pieces of tenderloins to a medium bowl.  Add spices to the bowl and mix together. 

Add flour to a medium bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Place pieces of tenderloins in the flour and fully cover the tenderloins with the flour. 

Heat the oil over medium heat in a medium skillet. Once the oil is heated add enough chicken tenderloins to fill the skillet.  Pan fry the chicken for five minutes on one side and then flip and fry for another 3-5 minutes on the opposite side. 

Take out the chicken and place in a large bowl lined with paper towels to soak up the extra oil from the chicken.  Salt the chicken to taste.

Waffle – Combine flour, salt, and baking soda in a medium-to-large bowl and stir together to combine.

Beat the egg in another medium bowl.  Then add the sugar, butter, and shortening in the bowl and mix well with an electric mixer until it is smooth.  Add the half-and-half, milk, buttermilk, and vanilla to the bowl and mix well again with a fork.

Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture then mix briefly, just enough to mix most of the dry mixture.  It is ok if there are lumps.  Mixing for too long will cause tough waffles.  Then cover and chill for 3-12 hours.  (chilling for 12 hours makes better batter). 

Mixing together – Preheat the waffle iron.  Once it is heated then spray the waffle iron with non-stick oil spray.  

Add about 2 teaspoons of the batter onto each of the four sections of the waffle iron.  Then place a piece of chicken on each section containing the waffle batter.  Then add more waffle batter on top of the chicken until the chicken is fully covered in batter. 

Close the waffle iron and keep it on until the waffle iron says the waffle is ready.  Use a fork or spatula to remove the chicken in a waffle from the waffle iron. 

Repeat the “mixing together” steps for the remaining chicken pieces.