Pat and Gina's Oven-Fried Chicken

By Nemo

"...One of the biggest differences between this recipe and others is that it uses panko. The result is crispier chicken than I've ever had come out of the oven. A trick that helps with that is the recipe's suggestion to spray the coated chicken with olive/canola oil..."

Ingredients

• Olive or canola oil nonstick cooking spray
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 1 Tbsp hot sauce
• 3 tsp salt and 3/4 tsp ground black pepper, divided
• 2 1/2 cups panko
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 8 pieces of chicken (about 3 lbs), skin removed

Preparation

Step 1

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a sheet tray with foil and spray with cooking spray. If you want, you could line the tray with a wire rack instead, but make sure to spray it.

2. In a pie plate or shallow bowl, whisk the eggs, mustard, honey, hot sauce, 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper until thoroughly combined.

3. Add the panko, 2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, paprika, cayenne, and garlic powder to another shallow plate and whisk to combine.

4. Dredge the chicken through the wet mixture, then the dry mixture, patting the breading on so it adheres.

5. Arrange the chicken onto the oil-sprayed tray, leaving room between each piece of chicken. Spray the chicken liberally with cooking spray, as evenly as possible. This will help brown and crisp up the coating.

6. Place the tray on the upper rack of the oven and bake for 45 minutes, or until the chicken is golden and crispy. The temperature should register 160-180°F on an instant-read thermometer in the thickest part of the chicken. If you don't have a thermometer, cut into a piece at the thickest part. The juices should run clear.