Chicken and Biscuits with Maple Butter Dipping Sauce
Servings: 6 people
A meal-in-one-bite with a sweet and salty dipping sauce to boot.
Print Recipe
Equipment
- dutch oven
- deep fry thermometer
Ingredients
Fried Buttermilk Chicken
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs trimmed according to preference (see note in post)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Meat Spice Blend
- 2 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 1/2 gallon peanut oil, vegetable oil, or lard for frying
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Meat Spice Blend
- 1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
Buttermilk Biscuits
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups cake flour
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 sticks (1 cup) Danish Creamery unsalted butter, ice cold or frozen
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 1/2 cup melted Danish Creamery unsalted butter, for brushing onto baked biscuits optional
Maple-Butter Dipping Sauce
- 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 1/2 cups pure maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch kosher salt
- 1 stick Danish Creamery unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
Marinate the Chicken
- Season the chicken liberally with the Meat Spice Blend, then transfer the chicken to a large non-reactive mixing bowl. Pour the buttermilk over the meat and cover the bowl tightly. Refrigerate 8-24 hours.
Prepare the Buttermilk Biscuits
- The following day, prepare your biscuit dough: combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.Grate the cold butter into this dry mixture. Toss the slivers of butter into the flour mixture to coat them in flour.
- Pour the cold buttermilk into the mixture and gently fold everything together just until the dough comes together. Don't handle the dough too much.
- Roll the biscuit dough into a rectangular shape, then fold the dough in thirds- letter-style- then roll the dough out into a rectangle again. Fold the dough again and roll it back out one more time before folding it a third (and final) time.
- Wrap the folded dough in plastic wrap. Place your wrapped dough into the fridge and let it relax for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- After your dough has rested, roll it out until it is a half-inch thick. Using a round biscuit cutter press straight down and pull straight up to cut out the rounds of dough. Don't twist the biscuit cutter or you'll seal the dough, which will prevent the biscuit from rising fully. Cut the biscuits as close together as possible to get the most out of this first roll.
- Gather any scraps of dough and press them firmly together until they stick to one another. Roll the dough out to three-quarters of an inch thick and recut. Arrange the biscuits on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
Chill, then Bake the Biscuits
- Chill the biscuits for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 400°F.Just before baking, make a dimple in the top of each biscuit with your fingertip. This will create a more even surface in the baked biscuit because it prevents the center from bulging up.
- Bake the biscuits for 15 minutes. As soon as they come out of the oven, brush them lightly with the melted butter.
Deep Fry the Chicken
- Preheat a 1/2 gallon of peanut oil (or your preferred frying oil) to 375°F. Use a deep fat frying thermometer to maintain a consistent temperature.
- While the oil is heating up, prepare a dredging/drying station for your chicken: place a cooling rack over a pan to hold the dredge chicken pieces. Whisk together the flour, cornstarch, and spices in a large mixing bowl.
- Coat the chicken pieces in the seasoned flour, shaking off any excess flour before transferring the chicken to a cooling rack to dry.
- Fry your chicken pieces in small batches for 4-5 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F.Transfer the fried chicken to a paper towel-lined pan to drain off excess oil while you continue frying the remaining pieces of chicken. Keep the chicken warm in the oven set on the lowest heat setting.
Prepare the Maple-Butter Dipping Sauce
- Combine the powdered sugar, maple syrup, melted Danish Creamery butter, kosher salt and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl.Whip the mixture with your electric hand mixer (or an immersion blender) for 6-7 minutes, on high, until the mixture turns into a thick, opaque emulsion.Keep this at room temperature, as the consistency will change if you refrigerate it.
Assemble the Chicken and Biscuits
- Once the biscuits, chicken, and maple-butter dipping sauce are prepared, serve the chicken and biscuits separately, as sandwiches, or on skewers.
- As appetizers: poke a toothpick through one biscuit, then anchor the biscuit with a piece of the fried chicken.
- Arrange your chicken and biscuits skewers on a platter and transfer your maple-butter sauce to a ramekin. Dip the Chicken and Biscuit skewers into the Maple-Butter Dipping Sauce, or spoon the sauce over the skewers.
Notes
The biscuits can be frozen before or after baking:
- Prior to baking: cut the biscuit dough into rounds and arrange them on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Freeze until solid before transferring the frozen discs to a freezer food storage bag. Store for up to two months.
- After baking: bake the biscuits as instructed and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack. Stack the baked biscuits in pairs before wrapping in plastic wrap. Place the wrapped biscuits in a freezer food storage bag. Store for up to two months. Just be sure to wrap them well to protect against freezer burn.