BUTTERMILK ALMOND BAKED CHICKEN FINGERS

Yesterday late afternoon our friends invited us to watch the BCS Bowl Game (sorry Notre Dame fans) and have dinner. I saw this recipe a few days ago on How Sweet It Is (howsweeteats.com) and had thawed some chicken tenders to make--I don't know what. I had buttermilk left over from a dish I made for New Years (that stuff lasts FOREVER) so I tried these!  Delicious!! I made a few changes from her original recipe.  She used smoked paprika--I used chile powder. She used whole wheat Panko--I did not.  These were sooooo easy!!  I didn't have almond meal and I ground whole almonds until they were fine in my food processor.  Worked great!!  I also only marinated them in the buttermilk about 3 hours.  The key to these being crunchy is baking them on a rack.  They were perfect!!

Ingredients:

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken tenders
2 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 cup almond meal (I ground almonds in food processor)
3/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon  paprika (or chile powder

Directions:

Add chicken to a baking dish and pour buttermilk over top to coat. Let soak for 4-6 hours refrigerated, or overnight.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a wire rack on top. Spray the rack with nonstick spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine almond meal, panko, flour, salt, pepper and paprika. Remove each chicken tender from the buttermilk and dip in breadcrumbs, gently pressing to adhere. Place on the wire rack. Spray each with a mist of olive oil or nonstick spray. Bake for 12 minutes, remove from over, gently flip and mist with spray, then bake for 12 minutes more.

[The key to crunchy chicken fingers and keeping the breading on the chicken is the wire rack AND the misting spray!]