Buffalo Cauliflower ~ Baked not Fried ~ Vegetarian Style Buffalo “Chicken”

I have been on quite the cauliflower binge lately but that’s what happens with it’s a super loss leader at the market and I stock up.  I’ve seen a few recipes for buffalo cauliflower but they’ve all called for frying the cauliflower and well, I’m just not really into frying and part of making Buffalo Cauliflower, in addition to using up some, is to get away from all the fat and grease of Buffalo Chicken Wings, baked or fried.  So, when I saw this Buffalo “Chicken”-Vegetarian Style from The Curvy Carrot, I knew what one head of cauliflower was destined to become.  Well holy hot sauce Batman, this Buffalo Cauliflower was freaking amazing!!  I had my doubts if I’d like the batter on the cauliflower as I’m not a batter person but I really, really loved it.  When baked onto the cauliflower the batter gave both a crunch in places and a nice chewy texture in other places and had a wonderful tangy, garlic flavor…what’s not to love?

I tried to keep the florets whole as cauliflower can be very delicate and fall apart but for the really big florets I did cut them in half.  I changed very little about the recipe.  I don’t keep buttermilk in the house but I always keep buttermilk powder so I mixed up what I needed and I also don’t use garlic salt so I did a combo of garlic powder and sea salt.

Buffalo Cauliflower ~ Baked not Fried ~ Vegetarian Style Buffalo “Chicken” (adapted from here)

• 1 head cauliflower, cleaned and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 4 TBS. buttermilk powder mixed with 1 cup water
• 1 cup all-purpose flour 
• 1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt 
• 1 cup Franks Red Hot Sauce  
• 1 TBS, butter, melted
• Blue cheese or ranch dressing and celery for serving

Preheat the oven to 450 F.  Prepare a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.  In a large bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, flour, garlic powder & salt, whisking until mostly smooth.  Very gently place the cauliflower in the bowl and lightly toss to completely coat with the buttermilk mixture.  Spread the cauliflower on the prepared baking pan and bake for about 15-18 minutes.  Keep and eye on it as it may start to brown up quickly.

While the cauliflower is baking, rinse out the used large bowl and in it, combine the buffalo sauce and the melted butter.  Carefully remove the hot cauliflower from the oven and add it to the bowl of buffalo sauce and toss gently to coat it as best you can.  Return the coated cauliflower to the baking sheet and place it back in to the oven another 5-8 minutes. Let cool slightly and serve immediately.

Enjoy!