John loves deep fried chicken with waffles. I love deep fried chicken, probably more than any other food in the world, and I like eating waffles every now and then for dessert, but I didn’t like them in combination until I made mini chicken (soft bones) and waffles drizzled with maple syrup. These one-bite hors d’oeuvres make sense to me, because they are easier to eat than the regular sized version, they have the perfect ratio of meat to waffle, they have a great balance of sweet and savoury, and the waffles stay crispy for longer. I was inspired to make these when I spotted Eggo Minis at the grocery store. I usually try to avoid processed foods, but I couldn’t help myself. They’re adorable! Top them with tiny scoops of ice cream (use a melon baller), chocolate or strawberry sauce, and toppings (e.g. mini oreos, crushed nuts, whipped cream, sprinkles) and you’ve got an even more adorable dessert. [Confession: When I first started living on my own, I would eat Eggos for dinner. I’ve eaten a LOT of Eggos in my lifetime. Looks like I’ll be picking up where I left off. ;)]

Mini Chicken and Waffles Hors D’Oeuvres Recipe

You can make a small batch or a large batch of these hors d’eovures. If you’re making these for a party, make about 1 to 3 per guest, depending on how much other food you will be serving.

You will need the following ingredients:

Eggo minis waffles (1 box comes with 40)

skinless, boneless, chicken thighs, cut into large, bite-sized pieces (Note: For a Chinese fusion version, I used chicken soft bone that I purchased from a Chinese grocery store. Each soft bone had some attached chicken meat and happened to be the perfect size.)

ingredients for your favourite deep fry batter (Note: Since I was adding an Asian twist, I used the same coating as my Taiwanese popcorn chicken, which was 3 parts sweet potato starch and 1 part corn starch, see recipe here)

vegetable oil for deep frying

seasonings of your choice (e.g. coarse sea salt, ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, herbs, celery seed, etc.)

sauce of your choice (e.g. maple syrup or honey, hot sauce, etc.)

To make the hors d’oeuvres:

Season the chicken as desired. (I used a sprinkling of Kosher salt and a generous amount of black pepper, because I wanted the chicken to have some heat without being spicy.) Heat the oil and cook the chicken until just cooked through. Follow your favourite deep fried chicken recipe. Be sure not to overcook the chicken. Meanwhile, toast the mini Eggo waffles until the tops and edges are nicely browned, and they are crunchy on the outside but still soft and chewy on the inside. You could use a toaster or a toaster oven to do this. If you prefer soft waffles, toast them until they are heated through and are still yellow in colour. Set the toasted mini waffles on a cooling rack so that they don’t get soggy as they cool.

Once the chicken pieces are cooked through and crunchy, place them on a brown paper bag-lined plate. Sprinkle over seasonings of your choice. (I used Kosher salt.) Then plate the waffles, at least one inch apart from each other, on a serving plate. Top each waffle with one piece of chicken. Just prior to serving, drizzle over your sauce and serve immediately. (I used maple syrup.) You may also want to provide extra sauce on the side for your guests to dip their chicken waffles into.