[bctt tweet=”Hot Chicken & Pumpkin Waffles pair perfectly with #dunkinatgianteagle iced coffees. #ad #sofabfood #columbusohio” username=”cookeatexplore”]
Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, INC. and The Coca-Cola Company, all opinions are mine alone. #DunkinatGiantEagle #CollectiveBias
I am a serious iced coffee junkie. Big time. Working for yourself means a never ending to do list, which in turn means a seemingly bottomless cup of coffee in my had while I’m working. Being able to stock my fridge with Dunkin’ Donuts Iced Coffee from Giant Eagle means that the ever important first hit of iced coffee in the morning is only as far away as my fridge, I am able to pad into my kitchen, open the fridge, twist the lid off and get that first cobweb clearing hit of caffeine while still in my pj’s, and without the waiting that brewing hot coffee entails. Plus, iced coffee is just better.
I don’t usually get the fridge door closed before I’m downing those first amazing swallows of the day.
Dunkin’ Donuts doesn’t have a large presence in Oregon, if any at all, so thier coffee wasn’t something that was on my radar until we moved out here, and I’ve gotta say, I was a little bit surprised at first at how much I love thier iced coffees, how smooth the flavor is, and how easy they are to grab out of the fridge and go. More often than not I don’t pour them over ice and use a glass, but rather down them straight from the bottle. Mocha & Espresso are my flavors of choice, and most days, I end up drinking a couple.
Giant Eagle, and Giant Eagle Marketplace, which are local here to Ohio, are the closest thing I’ve been able to find to New Seasons, and that’s where I first found the Dunkin’ Iced Coffee’s, click [HERE] to find a Giant Eagle closest to you.
The first day that I tried Dunkin’s iced coffee it was on a whim, as I was working my way up and down the aisles of Giant Eagle, and the colors of the bottle grabbed me. I was curious, as I’d never had Dunkin’ Donuts coffee before, so I tossed a few into the cart. The next morning, totally hooked.
Hot Chicken & Pumpkin Waffles
I am all about chicken and waffles lately. Big time. I think that they are the perfect combination of sweet and savory, and then you add in the contrast of the crunch of the chicken with the soft of the waffles, ammmmmazing.
My obsession with chicken and waffles has taken off this summer, all throughout the Southern Summer Road Trip if there was chicken and waffles on the menu, that’s what I was going to be ordering. It was a no brainer, plus, trying all of the different iterations of the dish allowed me to really delve into what I loved, and what I would stay away from as I played around with various taste profiles for the same dish.
We’re into big flavors around here, with Jeff taking spice to a level that makes me feel like my face is burning off and that my lips are on fire, with me being more into a strong flavor profile, with some kick, this hot chicken hits both of those notes, being flavorful and hot without leaving you feeling like you need to find a fire extinguisher for your face.
Let’s talk about the pumpkin waffles for a second.
These are pumpkin spiced waffles, NOT pumpkin spice waffles. Very subtle yet significant distinction. Pumpkin Spice has seemingly taken over the world since fall’s arrival, and to me, can cross from flavorful to cloying very quickly, and often doesn’t contain any real pumpkin.
These waffles, they’re made with real pumpkin, and a dash of spice. The flavor profile is very pumpkin forward, and not cloying at all. It balances the heat of the chicken without overpowering it, and they definitely lean to the savory rather than sweet.
Hot Chicken & Pumpkin Waffles
Ingredients
Pumpkin Waffles
- 4 Cups Bread Flour
- 6 T Sugar (you can adjust this depending on your preference for sweet)
- 2 T Baking Powder
- 3 t Pumpkin Pie Spice
- 4 Eggs
- 1 1/2 Cup Milk
- 1 1/2 Cup Buttermilk
- 8 T Vegetable Oil
- 1 Cup Pumpkin Puree
Hot Chicken
- 4 Breasts Chicken Pro Tip :: Buy from the meat counter at your favorite grocery store, rather than prepackaged)
- 1 T Garlic Pepper
- 1 T Onion Salt
- 1 t Garlic Powder
- 1 T Cayenne Pepper
- 1 1/2 T Ancho Chili Powder
- 1 Cup Bread Flower
- 6 Eggs
- 4 Cups Buttermilk
- Vegetable for Frying
Instructions
Pumpkin Waffles
- In a large mixing bowl combine all dry ingredients and stir together. I'm all about using wooden spoons for this step, but if you have a different tool of choice, rock it.
- Add in the remaining ingredients, and stir using either a hand mixer or your stand mixer, scraping the sides of the bowl as you go. Mix until the batter is smooth. You may need to add more milk as you go, you want the batter to be thick, but still pourable.
- Working in batches, pour the batter into your waffle maker, and cook until golden brown, and ever so sliiiiiightly crispy around the edges.
- At this point, I transfer the finished waffles to a cookie sheet in the oven, with the oven set to 350, so that they stay warm and don't get soggy while I'm working on the chicken.
Hot Chicken
- Mix flour and all spices together in a shallow dish and set aside.
- Working in batches with the buttermilk, pour a cup into a shallow dish, and set aside next to the spice mixture.
- Again, working in batches, crack two eggs into a third shallow dish and whisk together, set aside with the spice mixture and buttermilk dishes.
- Slice the chicken breasts into 3/4 inch strips, here's where you can go a couple of different routes. Again, working in batches, dump the chicken into the buttermilk, then working one piece at a time dip into the egg wash, then dredge in the spice mix.
- Heat oil for frying, about an inch at a time over medium high heat (you will need to add oil as you go, so keep the bottle handy) Fry the seasoned strips of chicken as you go, until crispy and a deep golden brown on each side. (five minutes per side, give or take)
- Once the chicken is all fried, pull the waffles out of the oven, load them up with chicken, and drown the whole thing with your syrup of choice.
Do you know I’ve *never* tried chicken and waffles?! Crazy right?! This is a good reminder and motivation that I need to do that soon! Of course Coffee is a must, always though! 😉
DIgging this flavor combo!
Oh yes please, this looks and sounds like my kind of recipe. I’m stocking up on pumpkin recipes this month.
You will probably think I’m crazy, but I have never had Chicken and Waffles.. Yeah I know, I need to really bad!! 🙂
Yum! Loving this fall version of Chicken & Waffles!
Mmmmm! You had me at pumpkin waffles. I would have never thought to combine fried chicken with pumpkin waffles though. Genius since savory pumpkin is so dang good.