Smoked Chicken Lollipops

If you want to take your chicken drumsticks to the next level, these smoked chicken lollipops are the ultimate backyard BBQ showstopper

These Frenched drumsticks are rubbed with BBQ seasoning, wrapped in bacon, and kissed with smoke before being glazed in sticky-sweet BBQ sauce. With just a little prep, you’ll turn humble chicken legs into a smoky, bite-sized crowd-pleaser that disappears fast

Smoked Chicken Lollipops

A chicken lollipop is just a frenched chicken drumstick. If you’re not familiar with butchering terms, that means that some of the meat and fat have been trimmed away from the bones.

I first encountered chicken lollipops years ago at barbecue competitions. They are a popular choice for the Open Category in competition because they give a beautiful presentation and are fairly easy to make. 

While the prep can be a little tedious, I think it’s worth it just for the presentation alone. It also makes the drumstick much easier to eat, making this a great appetizer or party finger food.

Ingredients you’ll need 

• Chicken drumsticks (or wingettes) – I prefer to use drumsticks, but you can also use the drum portion of a chicken wing for a miniature version. Keep in mind that if you use the drum from a wing, the cooking time will be cut in half. 
• Bacon – You don’t have to wrap them in bacon, but I think it adds a nice texture and extra flavor. Original or thin-cut bacon is the way to go, as it will ensure the bacon doesn’t end up undercooked and soggy. I don’t recommend thick-cut bacon. 
• BBQ rub – I used the Kosmos Q Hot Dirty Bird seasoning for this recipe, but if you prefer to whip up a homemade blend, our Ultimate Dry Rub for Ribs would work well.
• BBQ sauce – again, any sauce will work. You want to look for something thinner, like a vinegar-based sauce. If your sauce is thicker, you want to use butter and vinegar to thin it out. 

Equipment you’ll need 

• Boning knife – A thin, sharp knife for cutting through the skin and tendons of the chicken legs.
• Butcher knife – To cut through skin, bone, and tendons to prep the drumsticks.
• Poultry shears – Shears are helpful for cutting tendons and bones in the chicken. 
• Aluminum foil – I like to wrap the bones in aluminum foil before cooking them. This helps keep the bones white during the cooking process and makes for a better presentation. 
• Grill/Smoker – You can use a smoker, charcoal grill, gas grill, or pellet grill (or even an oven) but it must be able to maintain a steady temperature of 275°F. 
• Cup or bowl – I like to use a Yeti Rocks glass for this, but any cup or bowl will work. You need something deep enough to dunk your chicken into the sauce. I’ve found that this is the easiest way to ensure each lollipop is fully coated in sauce. 

Skin on or off?

Whether or not you remove the skin from the chicken lollipop is up to you.

My general rule is that if I plan to wrap my chicken lollipops in bacon, I will remove the skin. The bacon will prevent the chicken skin from getting crispy, so you will end up with a layer of soggy skin between your meat and your bacon. 

If you don’t plan to wrap them in bacon, then feel free to leave the skin on! It will get nice and crispy on the outside while it’s cooking and also look nice at the end. 

Wrapping in foil

This step is optional, but I like to wrap the exposed bones in foil. This helps keep the bones white during the cooking process and makes the presentation a bit nicer.

If you’re feeding your family, I wouldn’t bother, but if you want to really make that presentation perfect then wrapping the bones in foil is the way to go! 

How to make smoked chicken lollipops

1. Prep and season your chicken legs

You want to remove the meat and skin about 1 to 1-½ inches from the end of the drumstick.

Start by taking your boning knife and cutting around the entire bone. It may take 2 to 3 passes in a circular motion to cut through the skin and tendons. 

Once you’ve cut around the bone, you can pull the skin upwards toward the joint and remove it from the bone. You should be able to wiggle your finger between the bone and the skin and pull firmly to remove it.

If you are having trouble gripping the skin, grab a paper towel, and it should help you get a better grip. 

If any meat or skin remains on the bone, you can scrape it off with the end of your knife. You want the bone to be completely clean and free of excess meat or skin. 

Before you shape the lollipop, you want to remove a tiny bone at the base of the meat. You may be tempted to skip this step, but trust me, DON’T. 

This can and will cut you – I know from experience. It’s wildly sharp and will go right through your gloves and your skin, and it hurts! 

I take my poultry shears, push back the meat around the bone, and give it a snip. 

Now that the bone is clean, you can grip it tightly with your right hand. Use your left hand to push down on the meat section to create the lollipop shape.

Once you’ve snipped that bone, you will notice a lot of tendons hanging out of the meat. Nobody wants to be munching on tendons, so take some time to remove those as well. 

You can grip them with a paper towel and remove them completely, but you may find that a good chunk of meat comes out with them. I’ve found that pushing the meat down as far as you can and cutting the tendons as close to the base as possible is the best way to get them out of the way. 

You can use your knife to cut them or just grab your poultry shears and snip-snip-away. 

The final step is technically optional, but if you want your chicken lollipops to stand upright on their own, you will need to flatten the base. This is where a strong, sharp butcher knife will come in handy. 

You will find a knuckle at the end of the drumstick. Take your knife and cut the end off firmly. You want to make sure that you are cutting it straight to give the chicken a base to stand on. It’s okay if you cut off a little bit of meat while cutting off the tip of the knuckle. 

If you’ve done it correctly, your chicken lollipop should stand upright without falling over or leaning. It may take a few tries to get them perfect, but once you find that sweet spot, you’ll be good to go. 

After you’ve followed the steps above to French your drumsticks, it’s time to season them.

I like to season my chicken before I wrap it in bacon. This ensures the rub gets on the meat and also helps prevent the bacon from burning while it’s on the smoker.

Any all-purpose BBQ rub or seasoning will work great. If you’re whipping up a homemade batch, our Ultimate Dry Rub for Ribs recipe also works great on chicken. 

You can do a light spray of cooking oil to help the rub adhere, but I find it sticks fine without any binder.

2. Wrap the bones with foil

Once your chicken is seasoned, you can wrap the bones in aluminum foil. This step is optional, but it will help the bones stay clean and white while the chicken is cooking. It’s only for the final presentation, so if looks aren’t important to you, then feel free to skip it.

3. Wrap with bacon

Take a slice of bacon and wrap each lollipop. I only like to use one slice of bacon because I don’t like the bacon overlapping, which results in undercooked portions. Once you’ve wrapped the lollipops in bacon, you can secure each piece with a couple of toothpicks. 

4. Smoke the lollipops at 275°F

I like to smoke these a little hotter at 275°F. That temperature is perfect for cooking the chicken without over- or undercooking the bacon. 

I smoked these on my Camp Chef Woodwind Pro with Bear Mountain BBQ Bold BBQ pellets. However, any smoker or grill will work fine for this recipe as long as it can maintain a steady temperature of 275°F for at least two hours.

Place each chicken leg directly on the grates of your smoker, standing upright. You can also use a smoking rack like this, which makes it easier to take each smoked chicken lollipop off at once.

Let them cook for around 1-½ hours, or until the bacon is crispy and the chicken is 165°F internal.

Don’t worry too much about overcooking the chicken – dark meat is much more forgiving. 

5. Glaze 

Once your chicken is cooked through and the bacon is crispy, you can dunk each chicken lollipop in your favorite BBQ sauce or glaze.

If you’re using a thicker sauce, be sure to add some butter or vinegar to thin it out before dunking your chicken. You want a nice, thin layer of sauce. 

Once your chicken is coated in a light layer of the sauce, place it back on the smoker for another 15-20 minutes to let the sauce tack up.

Don’t worry too much about the internal temperature because it’s dark meat chicken, but these finished at 172°F internally for me. 

How to serve smoked chicken lollipops

I like to serve these chicken lollipops as an appetizer on a big plate or platter with a bowl of extra barbecue sauce for dipping.

I recommend serving these hot off the smoker, although there’s no reason you couldn’t still enjoy them lukewarm or cold. If you need to reheat them, pop them in the oven or smoker at around 350°F until warm.

If you want to turn it into more of a meal, you could pair it with our Southern-style Slaw and grilled Smashed Potatoes.

Other smoked chicken recipes you might like:

• Crispy Smoked Chicken Thighs
• Smoked Buffalo Hot Wings
• Whole Smoked Chicken on a Pellet Grill
• Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich
• Easy Smoked Chicken Breast
  

Smoked Chicken Lollipops Recipe

While there’s a little more prep work involved in butchering the drumsticks, this chicken lollipops recipe is well worth the effort! If I’m hosting a party or tailgate I’ll knock out all of the prep work in the morning, then it’s just a matter of popping these on the smoker.

Get these on the smoker, then come back and let us know how they tasted in the comments.