What's more American than a chicken tender?? A nice piece of the most tender part of a chicken breast, straight from the freezer to your fryer....Wait, that's not a good way to eat. With everyone on a diet, it seems that this delicious treat gets cut out of a lot of diets. But it doesn't have to. Here is a great way to enjoy chicken tenders, baked, and without shelling out the big bucks to get them from the frozen section. It's a little messy but it's pretty easy to make them right at home. Here's how it goes
1 lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
2 Cups All Purpose Flour
2 Tbsp Garlic Salt
1 Tbsp Onion Powder
4 Large Eggs
1/2 Cup Yellow Mustard
1/2 Cup Honey
1/4 Cup Water
4 Cups Coarsely Crushed Pretzels
Start by cutting your chicken breasts in to strips. The size is a personal preference, but I try and get them about the same size as restaurant strips. From the grocery store, this should be about 4 breasts, but from your local butcher shop, you might be able to get a pound out of one breast. Once these are cut up, set them aside for a moment. Next, find three wide, shallow containers. Chinese food containers work great for this. In the first, combine the flour, garlic salt, and onion powder and mix them well. In a separate bowl, place the eggs, honey, mustard, and water, and whisk well. Once these ingredients are combined, pour the mixture in the second shallow container. Place the Pretzels in a freezer ziploc bag (trust me, you will want the extra thick bag to prevent rupture) and crush them up with something heavy. I use my four cup measuring cup in a hammering motion, so I get some fine crumbs, but most of the pretzels are very coarse. This will make the pretzel appearance for the crust. Once they are to the proper consistency, pour them into the third shallow container. Now, line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and then spray it lightly with cooking spray. Set your oven heat to 400°F. Now, take the chicken pieces, one at a time and prepare them as follows. Dredge in the flour mixture. Dip in the wet mixture, making sure the entire piece is saturated, then roll it in the pretzel pieces. Once all the pieces are breaded, the oven should be fully heated, so slide the cookie sheet in on the top rack and cook your strips for 15-25 minutes. Ovens vary, and you may have cut some bigger than I did. A meat thermometer to 165°F or cutting a big piece open to see if there is pink in the middle is the most certain indicator. Once they are out, find your favorite dipping sauce and enjoy.
Makes: Well that depends on how big you cut your pieces. I got 10 out of my last batch. They are a little dryer than deep fried, but baked is always healthier.
