The BEST Chicken Nuggets

When you have little children around, it is imperative to have a really, really good recipe for chicken nuggets in your arsenal. All kids love them and a plate piled high with crispy nuggets guarantees that there won't be any bribing/fighting/generalized anxiety come mealtime. 

We like our nuggets served alongside some honey mustard or ketchup. Matthew definitely prefers the ketchup. Maybe it has something to do with me eating it by the cupful while pregnant with him. That was a strange phase.

When I placed this plate of perfectly browned little chickadees on the table, Matthew grabbed one, dipped it in the sauce, and took a big bite. As he chewed that first bite, his face took on a look of complete surprise and confusion...

APRIL FOOLS!

These "chicken nuggets" are actually pieces of pound cake that I dipped in glaze and then coated in finely chopped peanuts. I dyed vanilla pudding yellow and burgundy red to look like ketchup and mustard. Even Paul was completely fooled. The only thing that tipped him off was the color of the ketchup. Despite my best attempts to get the hue just right, it looked a little too red.

"What's wrong with that ketchup?!?" Paul asked, quite alarmed.

"Oh I just picked up a cheap-o bottle from the dollar store! You're just used to the color of Heinz," I said in reply.

Lame as it was, Paul seemed to buy my excuse because he just shrugged and proceeded to try a "chicken nugget" dipped in the faux ketchup. As he popped it into his mouth, he gagged and cried: "What the heck is this?!"

It's really unnerving to bite into cake when you are expecting a savory piece of chicken.

It was a fun little prank for April Fool's Day. Paul wanted me to mention that the faux nuggets taste fantastic. In fact, he took the leftovers to work as a snack because he enjoyed them so much. However, he was not a fan of the dyed pudding. It creeped him out a bit too much.

Welcome to the month of April! Here's hoping it brings us better weather than this past March!

Fake Chicken Nuggets for April Fool's Day

from Taste of Home

For the Nuggets:

1 loaf pound cake, store-bought or homemade

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

2 tablespoons water

4 1/2 teaspoons light corn syrup

1 tablespoon butter, softened

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups salted peanuts, finely chopped in a food processor

For the Sauce:

2 snack-size cups (3.5 oz each) vanilla pudding

2 teaspoons dark corn syrup (I used light corn syrup)

2 drops yellow or red food coloring

Cut cake into 12 slices (approximately) and then cut each slice in half. Cut into irregular-nugget shaped pieces and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, water, corn syrup, butter, and vanilla; beat on low speed until sugar in moistened. Beat on high until smooth. Dip cake pieces into glaze, then roll in peanuts. Let stand until set.

In a small bowl, combine the sauce ingredients. Serve with nuggets.