Hot Honey Chicken Tenders

Announcement: I love fried chicken. Full stop. I also love cheeseburgers.

🍗🍯🐔

Fried chicken and cheeseburgers, despite my devotion to them as cultural staples, are not things I eat frequently. Why? The quality and provenance of the meat. It is difficult to find local fried chicken in a restaurant or a cheeseburger made from ground beef you can trust (yes, Copperwood Tavern, I know your burger patties are sourced from local wagyu beef Ovoka Farms and I thank you for that).

Now you guys already know my opinion on cheeseburgers. But the fried chicken I have yet to address. I will do so now. And before you ask, yes, I bake my fried chicken. It’s a bit healthier but, more importantly, makes less of a mess in my kitchen. The only time I ever actually fry chicken is for my epic Katsu Ramen. Believe me when I tell you, though, that this will scratch the fried chicken itch. The almighty secret: breakfast cereal. And, of course, local honey.

Also, we are going to do a quick Protein Trio thing here with three distinct, unique proteins.

Consider this Protein #1: Baked Fried Chicken.

Proteins #2 and #3 coming soon!

what you need

1 pound fresh chicken breast, cut into strips like tenders (note: this is for 1-2 people. Double everything and use 2 pounds of chicken for a family of four).

3 cups of corn flakes

2 eggs, beaten

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons dried oregano

3 teaspoons smoked paprika

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 cup fresh honey

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

(optional) fresh parsley for garnish

**credit for sourcing local chicken tenders: Whiffletree Farm and their brilliant neighborhood delivery throughout Northern Virginia.

***leftovers make for a great friend chicken salad with honey mustard vinaigrette!

how to make it

Preheat oven to 350.

Beat eggs and add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika.

Crush cornflakes in a ziplock bag until very fine, like the consistency of Panko. Add the remaining salt, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, and remaining smoked paprika, and mix thoroughly.

Place parchment paper on a baking sheet. Taking the chicken tenders one at a time, dip them well in the egg mixture, then transfer them to the cornflake mixture and coat them completely. If you like a thicker crust, you can run them through a second time, but I just do mine once.

Place on parchment and bake until crispy and golden brown, ~15 minutes, taking care not to overcook your chicken. (the internal temp of chicken should reach 165 in your thickest chicken tender).

While the chicken bakes, place the honey and cayenne pepper over low heat on the stove. You don’t want to boil the honey – just warm it enough so it becomes more pourable. When the chicken comes out of the oven, stack it on a serving plate, drizzle with hot honey, and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve with large amounts of dill pickles.