Crispy Baked Chicken Tenders

For the Homemade Whole Wheat Breadcrumbs:

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Pulse coarsely torn leftover whole wheat bread (I’ve successfully used sandwich bread, baguettes, and burger buns) in a food processor until crumbs form. Scatter breadcrumbs in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 5-7 minutes, or until crumbs begin to turn golden. Stir and rearrange breadcrumbs into an even layer and bake an additional 5-7 minutes, or until fragrant and slightly crisp. Cool completely, and store in an airtight container in the fridge.

For the Crispy Chicken Tenders:

Lay chicken strips in a wide, shallow dish (such as a pie plate or cake pan) and cover with buttermilk. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to overnight.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Place a wire rack on top of a rimmed cookie sheet. Set aside.

Combine 1 cup homemade breadcrumbs and 1 cup flaked cereal crumbs and mix until homogenous. Lay mixture out in an even layer on a large plate. Place flour on another large plate. Pour whisked egg onto yet another plate.

Remove the marinated chicken pieces from the buttermilk, letting the extra milk drip off, and place chicken on a clean large plate. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Dredge each piece of chicken in the flour. Run each piece of chicken through the egg until fully coated. Finally, dredge each piece of chicken in the breadcrumb/cereal mixture and press so that the mixture adheres fully to all sides of the chicken pieces.

Place coated chicken pieces onto the wire rack/baking sheet. Spray the tops of each piece of chicken with olive oil spray. Bake for 8 minutes; flip each piece of chicken over and coat the top side with olive oil spray. Bake for another 8 minutes, or until done.

Serve with barbeque sauce, honey mustard (I like an equal ratio of honey to coarse ground mustard), or ketchup.