Baked Crunchy Chicken Fingers

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I love play dates. Now that my oldest kid is nearing double digits, I've been told that it's no longer a play date; they now come over to hang out. Either way, I love it when kids play hang out at our apartment. There isn't much difference in the noise level going from 3 to 4 kids. The more the merrier! Plus, I love testing out my recipes on new palates. 

Baked Crunchy Chicken Fingers

A notoriously picky-eater friend came over to hang out a few weeks ago. Notorious in his kind disposition, hysterical demeanor as well as his refusal to eat anything other than chicken fingers and hot dogs. During past play dates food wasn't involved, but I knew that I'd be making dinner for the kids during this one. In the famous words of How I Met Your Mothers' Barney Stinson, "Challenge Accepted!" 

Wondering if I was successful in convincing this kid that baked chicken fingers might be better than store-bought and deep fried ones?  You betcha... He proudly devoured seven fingers. Seven!!! Go ahead and make your own. See the results first hand.

Dip chicken tender into egg, letting excess drip off.
Then coat with Chex mixture.

Evenly space chicken on a baking sheet

Baked for 20 minutes, until golden brown

Adult friendly too!

Baked Crunchy Chicken Fingers in action!
(Pay no attention to the tomato, chick pea and olive salad)

Baked Crunchy Chicken Fingers (close up!)

Baked Crunchy Chicken Fingers

Serves 4-6 people

Ingredients

2 pounds chicken breast, cut into "tender" pieces

2 eggs

2 tablespoons milk

1 1/2 cups Rice Chex, crushed into coarse pieces

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Trader Joe's African Smoke (about 10 turns of the grinder)

Few grinds pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 475 degrees, with rack placed in the middle of the oven. 

1. Using a square of paper towel, spread olive oil over a large baking sheet. Set aside.
2. In a shallow bowl, whisk together eggs and milk.
3. On a large plate, combine Rice Chex, paprika, dried oregano, garlic powder, salt, TJ's African Smoke and pepper. Mix well to combine.
4. One chicken tender at a time, dip into egg & milk mixture – let excess drip off before dipping into the dry mix. Coat the chicken tender with the seasoned cereal mixture. Place directly on the prepared baking sheet.
5. Continue process for all chicken strips, shaking plate (to evenly distribute chex and seasoning) between each chicken coating. When placing chicken on the baking sheet, make sure to leave space between the strips.
6. Bake 20 minutes or until chicken has cooked through and coating is nice and crispy. (Don't overcook or the chicken will dry out.)
7. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes. Enjoy immediately.

Eat, Drink & Be Yummy!