Slow Cooker Honey Baked Chicken

Are you ready for some falling-off the bone sweet/savory comfort food for fall? That photo is kind of ugly...It was very tasty yesterday, though! Here's a little food-break from the Ireland adventures. 

Everyone probably already knows about this dish. Mom used to make it, and another church friend gave me the recipe in my bridal shower cookbook. I've seen it called Honey Curry Chicken, Honey Mustard Chicken and Honey Baked Chicken, which is most familiar to me. I love it because it's very fast (no chopping of vegetables necessary!), easy to leave it to bake and quite delicious.

It's been one of my favorite dishes to make for company on Sunday afternoons. Usually I leave it in the oven on time-bake and start my rice cooker before we leave for church, because it switches to "warm" automatically when the rice is cooked. At least three times, though, I've made some mistake in programming the oven and come home to raw chicken. Yikes. Since it takes an hour to bake, that's lots of time for cheese and crackers and small talk while everyone waits for their food! Then recently when I was scrubbing the oven knobs, I did something funky to the little clock knob and I just don't trust it anymore. So, yesterday I decided to try putting it in the crock pot for just us. I'm never looking back! Here's how I did it.

Notes on ingredients: the recipe originally called for butter, but I tried substituting coconut oil this time and loved it. Also, the cuts of chicken can be flexible (you can even do a whole chicken, cut in pieces). I halve the recipe for our little family.

Slow-Cooker Honey Baked Chicken

6-10 chicken thighs with skin removed

1 stick butter or 1/2 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup honey or brown sugar

1/4 cup mustard

1 teaspoon curry powder

Turn slow cooker on high and measure all ingredients except chicken into it. Go do something else for 5-10 minutes while the butter/oil melts. ;) When it has melted, whisk the sauce together. Drop in chicken pieces, turning once to coat. Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours (or probably on low for 8-10 hrs, but I haven't tested this!). Serve over rice.