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Cran-apple Smoked Chicken Breasts

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

Cran-Apple Marinade

  • 1 cup cran-apple juice, such as Ocean Spray
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 2 tsp onion powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 tsp pepper
  • 1 tbsp garlic powder
  • 1 tbsp light brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped finely
  • 1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped finely
  • 2 large chicken breasts, cut in half lengthwise to make 4 thin breast pieces. You can also use 4 thin chicken breast cutlets

Cran-Apple Glaze

  • Remaining marinade after following steps 1 and 2.
  • 1/4 cup cran-apple juice
  • 7 oz whole berry cranberry sauce (1/2 can)
  • 1/2 cup apple butter
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 3 cloves minced garlic
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

Marinade Instructions

  • Mix all marinade ingredients except chicken in a medium sized mixing bowl. Reserve 1/2 cup of the mixture and pour the rest into a gallon sized baggie.
  • Place chicken in the baggie with the marinade and seal, tossing well to coat. Marinate the chicken in the fridge for at least one hour or longer. We marinated our chicken for about 8 hours. Flip the baggie around every once in a while to help ensure all chicken is coated.

Glazing Instructions

  • After chicken has marinaded, remove from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature. While the chicken is coming to room temp, preheat your pellet smoker to 250° using applewood pellets.
  • When smoker is preheated, place chicken carefully on the grates of the grill. Smoke for 30 minutes with the lid closed the entire time. You want to keep the lid closed as much as possible to maintain your heat and get the chicken to take on as much smoke as possible.
  • Brush the glaze on the chicken. Smoke covered for an additional 25 minutes.
  • Flip the chicken, glaze the other side and smoke covered for 20-25 minutes.
  • Flip the chicken again, apply another layer of glaze and turn up the temperature of the smoker to 400°. Cook with the lid closed for 10 minutes. Flip, apply more glaze, and cook covered another 10-15 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 160°.
  • Serve and enjoy!