"Good as Fried" Oven Fried Chicken





Fried chicken is so delicious, but it's no surprise that it's one of those dishes that should be an occasional treat. If you crave fried chicken but are trying to eat healthier, indulge in our oven-baked version! We use boneless chicken (which helps it cook quickly!), and our recipe contains very little oil but still maintains the crunch we all love. This recipe can easily be converted for the gluten free eater.

Ingredients:


8 ounces of cornstarch

3 teaspoons celery seeds

⅛ teaspoon cloves

⅛ teaspoon allspice

1 ½ tablespoons garlic powder

1 ½ teaspoons mustard powder

3 teaspoons onion powder

1 ½ tablespoons salt

2 ¼ teaspoons paprika

¾ teaspoon cayenne

6 eggs

1 cup cornflakes, crushed

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

1 ½ pound chicken tenders

1 ½ pound boneless skinless chicken thighs


Directions:


Preheat the oven to 450 degrees fahrenheit.


Before you get your hands dirty, set up three medium bowls on the countertop, and place a cookie sheet with a cooling rack on top to the side. In the first bowl, combine the cornstarch, celery seeds, cloves, allspice, garlic powder, mustard powder, onion powder, salt, paprika and cayenne. Mix to combine.


In the second bowl, crack the 6 eggs and whisk to combine. In the third bowl, combine the crushed cornflakes (use a food processor or a plastic bag and your hands to crush) and the panko breadcrumbs. Now you're ready to dredge the chicken!


A good trick to this process is to designate one hand for the dry ingredients and one for the wet. This keeps your hands from becoming too sticky, and more importantly, it helps the chicken to crisp better in the oven if the exterior dry layer remains eggless.


Using your "dry hand," coat each piece of chicken in the cornstarch/spice mixture you made in bowl one. Next, use the "wet hand" to completely submerge the chicken in the whisked eggs in bowl #2. Repeat this step so the chicken is dipped twice in the egg. Gently shake the chicken to remove any excess egg. Lastly, use your "wet hand" to place the egg-coated chicken in the third bowl containing the bread crumb mixture. Use your "dry hand" to coat and pack the breadcrumbs onto the exterior of the chicken. Shake off the excess and arrange the chicken on the cooling rack over the cookie sheet.

Before you put the chicken in the oven, lightly drizzle canola oil (or any other high heat oil) over the chicken. Bake for 22 minutes at 450 degrees. If your oven runs hot, reduce the heat to 350 degrees after the first 10 minutes.


Serves 6