“Crispy” Chicken Fingers

For the most part, I’ve taken to avoiding anything with the word crispy in the title—which is code word for greasy and fried—but every now and again a little grease is necessary. We had fried chicken cutlets the other night and I had forgotten just how good they are. But I digress. Anyway, I came upon this recipe for baked chicken fingers on Pinterest, which my fellow blogger Liz Della Croce of The Lemon Bowl had pinned onto to our Comfort Food Feast board and I decided to give it a try. But then I realized I was out of dijon mustard. So, alas, I had to wait to see for myself if these chicken fingers were as good as the commenters said.

I finally got around to making them for dinner and I’ve already made them a second time, which tells you how much I like them. I can’t believe how crispy they get without touching a frying pan! Liz says that baking them on a cooling rack at a high heat allows them to get super crispy. To complement these delightful chicken fingers I also made honey mustard sauce, which is surprisingly easy to do. All in all this is one meal that will easily fall into your dinner rotation!

“Crispy” Chicken Fingers (from The Lemon Bowl)

1 1/2 pounds chicken breast, boneless, skinless cut in strips (I used organic chicken tenders, which eliminated the need for cutting them into strips)

1/4 cup dijon mustard

2 cloves garlic, grated

2 cups panko bread crumbs

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon paprika

Preheat oven to 475 and lay a metal cooling rack flat on top of a baking sheet. Spray cooling rack with non-stick spray and set aside. In a small bowl, combine mustard and garlic. Using a small brush, gently “paint” the chicken strips with the garlic mustard. In a shallow bowl, use fork to combine panko, salt, pepper, olive oil and paprika. Working in batches, add mustard coated chicken to the panko mixture and press to evenly coat all sides. Place panko covered chicken strips on metal rack lined baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until browned, turning once halfway through.

Homemade Honey Mustard (from Saucy Dipper)

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon yellow mustard

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until smooth.