We've had more snow days this winter than I've cared to have. It seems like every other weekend has been cancelled church services and warnings not to get on the roads... not that you really want to leave the house when temperatures are in the single digits. Being stuck indoors so many times made us want some kind of comfort food, and fried chicken just so happened to sound good.
My grandma makes really good fried chicken, with boiling oil in a cast iron skillet. My mom has made fried chicken the mini deep fryer and it was really good. However, I really didn't want to use a ton of oil for just six drumsticks, nor did I want to deal with splattered oil all over the stove top, nor being scared of getting burned. So, I gave oven fried chicken a whirl.
To be honest, I will most likely never fry chicken again. I'll leave that to King Edwards Chicken over in the heart of St. Charles. This oven fried chicken was THAT good.
I know, you're thinking, "Brianna, there is no way!" but yes way! It was crunchy and crispy and tender and juicy and seriously, so so easy to make and clean up!
Oven Fried Chicken
4 oz butter
2 cups flour
6 chicken drumsticks
2 teaspoons salt
½ tablespoon black pepper
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 tablespoon mustard powder
2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons garlic powder
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
While the oven is preheating, put the 4 oz of butter on a shallow baking dish and set in the cold oven while you prepare the chicken. This will allow the butter to melt on the pan and get ready for the chicken!
In a gallon sized plastic baggie, pour in 2 cups of flour. Place your pieces of chicken inside the bag, seal, and shake until all the pieces of chicken is coated.
In a small bowl mix together all of the spices.
Place your flour covered chicken skin down on the melted butter baking dish. Generously sprinkle 1/2 of spice mix over the chicken.
Bake for 20 minutes. Turn chicken over, sprinkle with remaining spice mix. Bake for another 20-25 minutes until chicken is golden brown.
I'm really weird about making sure chicken on the bone is thoroughly cooked. In the thickest part of the chicken, but not touching the bone, the food thermometer needs to be at 165 degrees F.