Oven-Barbecued Chicken Thighs

Is there anyone out there who is not a fan of barbecue? I mean, really. Juicy meats smothered in sweet, smoky, spicy sauce is something I could dive into any time, any day of the year. 

And with this easy indoor recipe, you don't have to wait until summer rolls around (or even own a grill). You can achieve that sticky glaze right in the kitchen with a sauce that starts as store-bought, but gets a little extra love.

Oven-Barbecued Chicken Thighs
Adapted from the Pioneer Woman
Serves: 8

You'll need:
8 chicken thighs, bone in, skin on
olive or vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups barbecue sauce
1/4 c apricot preserves
2 cloves garlic, minced
hot sauce, to taste (I used about 2 teaspoons... I like it spicy.)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Brush a rimmed baking sheet very lightly with oil, and place the chicken thighs skin-side down on the prepared pan.

Roast at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

While the chicken is roasting, let's make the sauce. Put the purchased BBQ sauce (we love Sweet Baby Ray's) in a small sauce pan, and add the apricot preserves...

... garlic, and hot sauce.

Mix thoroughly and bring the sauce to a simmer over medium-low heat. Cook for a few minutes to soften the garlic, then remove from heat.

After 25 minutes, remove the chicken thighs from the oven. I know... they are not very pretty yet. Rather homely little birds.

Let's give them a makeover.

First, brush the exposed sides of the thighs with a generous amount of your BBQ sauce. HINT: Since the chicken may not be fully cooked at this point, dipping your brush in the pot of sauce, brushing the chicken, and putting it back in the pot could cause the sauce to be contaminated. Now, all the sauce that's on the chicken will be cooked, so that's not a concern, but any leftover sauce would have to be thrown out. And who wants to do that? So, take some sauce out of the pan and put it into a second bowl. Brush your chicken from that bowl, refilling as needed. That way, anything left in the pot can be safely stored in the fridge for another use. Hooray for not wasting delicious things.

Picking up where we left off: Brush the bottoms of the chicken thighs.

Then, using a thin spatula, gently flip over all the thighs, being careful not to rip the skin. This is why we oiled the pan!

Now brush the tops with that sauce.

Starting to get prettier. Return the pan to the oven and roast for 7 more minutes. Then pull them out and brush on another generous layer of sauce.

Roast for 7 more minutes. Remove from the oven and turn the heat up to 425 degrees while you slather them with another layer of sauce.

So beautiful. Roast for 5 more minutes at 425 degrees.

And... GORGEOUS.

Serve with any and all country-cooking staples, like roasted veggies, cole slaw, cornbread, pasta salad, knives, forks, and possibly bibs.