Maple Spring Chicken

Whenever maple anything pops up in my reader, I pounce on it. I like it but my husband really likes maple. Most specifically maple donuts and Maple Nut Goodie ice cream. this recipe is from Erica at Simply Satisfying, and originally from the Buffum Maple website, which has a ton of great maple recipes. Score!

I made a few modifications, which I noted in the recipe. Overall, this was a very tasty recipe! I got the approving nod of my husband, so it is a keeper. We both agreed to cut down the lemon a little for next time. That may have been my fault, as I didn't really measure out my lemon juice, but rather just squeezed half of a lemon into the bowl. I wouldn't call this recipe a 10 on the health scale, cutting the butter in half helped. Sometimes you just have to use real butter, and there is no good substitute for the flavor. You could also omit the nuts all together for a little less calories, but again they tasted great. With a healthy side, per chicken breast it's not too shabby...see below for nutrition facts.




Maple Spring Chicken
from Simply Satisfying, originally from Buffum Maple

Ingredients:
2.5-3 lbs chicken (whole chicken (cut up), breasts or thighs)I used 4 medium boneless skinless breasts, or 20 ounces raw
1/2 t lemon zest
2 t lemon juice
Dash of pepper
1/2 c (one stick) butter, melted I used 1/4 cup or 4 tablespoons
1/2 c pure Maple Syrup Make sure you get pure maple, not the artificial stuff
1/2 t salt (optional)
1/4 c chopped almonds I had walnuts, so I used those...they turned out delicious with a nice sweet candy coating on them!

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish and place the chicken evenly throughout the dish.

Mix the remaining ingredients and pour evenly over the chicken. Cook for 50-60 minutes, until chicken is cooked through - basting occasionally.

We served ours with lightly salted steamed broccoli, but serving this over rice would be great, too.

Nutrition facts for whole recipe with my modifications:

Calories: 1660
Fat: 76 grams
Carbs: 57 grams
Protein: 143

Per serving, using 4 medium sized chicken breasts, per breast

415 cals
19 grams of fat
14.25 grams of carbs
35.75 grams of protein