Honey Mustard Crusty Chicken

In my house, I am a fan of taking awesome recipes and simplifying them whenever possible with minimal change in taste.  Much easier to decide to eat it last minute if it only has 3 or 4 ingredients rather than 10 or 12.  The recipe below is a spinoff of this Weight Watchers recipe.  It's still fairly healthy as it's baked, and it's up to you to tweak it to make it healthier or not if you wish.  This is a great way to do "chicken tenders" with a healthy spin.  It's a family favorite in my house.

1. First, thaw as many chicken breasts as you would like (this is also great left over, so feel free to do more).

2. Once the chicken is thawed, preheat the oven to 425.  While the oven is preheating, you will be preparing the chicken.

3. First, cut the chicken so that the breasts are thin.  They cook a lot quicker and you'll find you have "more" chicken this way too (even if it just seems this way).

4. Then, pour honey mustard dressing into a bowl.  I generally do about 1 cup for every two large chicken breasts.  Better to start with too little, as you can always make more honey mustard mixture.  Into the honey mustard, sprinkle in some dill and mix it up.  I do it so that the dressing just gets "spotty".  Generally about a half tablespoon per cup of dressing.

5.  In a separate bowl, get some corn flakes (generic works fine too) and mush them into small pieces, but be careful not to let it get to powder fineness.

6.  Take a cookie sheet and put a layer of foil in the bottom (you will thank me for this later).  Then, if you have it, take a cookie cooling rack and put it in the bottom of the cookie sheet.  I've found the chicken gets MUCH crispier rather than mushy if you raise it from the flat bottom of the cookie sheet using the cooling rack.

7. Finally, you coat the chicken.  First, coat each piece in the honey mustard mixture so it has a thin layer coating it.  Then, dip each piece in the corn flake mixture so it has a layer of flakes.  Finally, place it on the cooling rack in the cookie sheet.  Do this with the rest of the chicken.  (This is the point where you can always make more cornflakes or honey mustard mixture in the event that you didn't make enough before...so not to worry on exact measurements as you are making it)

8. Once the oven is preheated, put the chicken in the oven.  I have found that 20-25 minutes at 425 works perfectly but it will obviously depend on how thick your chicken is.  Once the insides are no longer pink, you are good to go!

9. For additional taste, I always put a little more honey mustard on my plate with some dill to dip the chicken in.  But it's delicious either way!  This is guaranteed to be a family favorite and a great way to get picky eaters to enjoy something a little healthier.