These Bacon-Wrapped Pineapple Chicken Shots are the perfect party food. The saltiness of the bacon combined with the sweetness of the pineapple and the smokiness from the BBQ coated chicken creates such a flavorful little bite.
1 large(about 6 to 8 ounces) chicken breast or two smaller chicken breasts cut into 24 1-inch pieces
12slicesbacon, your favorite brand and flavor, cut in half width-wise [See Note 1]
1tablespoonSweet BBQ Rub, more or less to taste
For the Filling:
4ozpackage(half package) cream cheese, softened
1/2cuppineapple chunks, chopped
2tablespoonspineapple juice [See Note 3]
1/4teaspoon salt [See Note 4]
1teaspoonSweet BBQ Rub
For the Garnish:
24pineapple chunks [See Note 2]
additional Sweet BBQ Rub just to lightly dust the tops
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.
Prepare 24 mini muffins tins with a small amount of non stick cooking spray or line a large jelly roll pan with aluminum foil. [See Note 5]
Slice the chicken into 1-inch pieces and coat with a Sweet BBQ Rub blend. Wrap each piece of chicken with a half slice of bacon overlapping the ends so it forms a circle around the chicken meat. If desired, secure through the bacon and the chicken with a toothpick. This is the base of your "shot glass."
In a medium bowl, beat together the cream cheese, pineapple juice, and 1/2 cup of pineapple chunks, reserving the rest of the pineapple to top the shots in Step 6, salt and BBQ rub. Note: The pineapple will break more up as it blends with the cream cheese.
Transfer the cream cheese mixture to a quart sized zip-top bag and snip off one of the bottom corners. Pipe some of the mixture into each of the appetizers leaving just a little room at the top.
Place one pineapple chunk into the top of each shot and lightly dust them with a little more BBQ rub.
Transfer the shots to the prepared mini muffin pans or a foil lined jelly roll pan and cook for 30 minutes, or until the bacon gets crisp and brown. Serve warm.
Notes
Regular cut bacon works better in this recipe than thick cut because it cooks faster and firms up to for the shot glass.
You can opt to use a fresh pineapple, but a can of pineapple chunks works just as well.
You can use juice reserved from the can of pineapple.
For the filling, adjust the salt according to your tastes noting that the bacon also has a salty element.
Mini muffin tins can get messy and require a fair amount of cleaning afterward. Alternatively, you can use a foil-lined jelly roll pan (baking tray) for easy cleanup.