Y'all. How much would you love me if I told you that fried chicken is suddenly healthy? :-) Except that it's not fried. (Stay with me.) And it's not chicken.
I'm just kiddin'. It's totally chicken. Still not fried though.
Also, it's skinless. DON'T BE MAD!
I promise it's just as delicious as the fried stuff. For real. I would never lie to you about such a thing. Fried chicken is serious. But this isn't fried. But baked skinless chicken is serious too. Probably more serious. 'Cause if you're gonna tell somebody to ditch their fried chicken for baked skinless chicken, you better not be jokin' around when you promise it's delicious. Am I right?
Well, anyway. I'll hush now so y'all can actually try this and stop being mad at me for telling you to make some baked skinless chicken instead of eating a big fat piece of fried chicken skin. The sooner you get this on your taste buds, the sooner you'll stop being mad. So let's get started.
Ingredients:
1 cup buttermilk (If you don't want to buy buttermilk, just splash about a teaspoon of lemon juice into a cup of milk and let it sit for a few minutes.)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon sea salt, divided
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper, divided
10-12 pieces bone-in, skinless chicken
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup corn starch
1-1/2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons Tony Chachere's seasoning, divided
butter flavored non-stick cooking spray
Instructions:
1. Whisk together buttermilk, mustard, garlic, 2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon Tony Chachere's seasoning and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add chicken and coat well. Cover and refrigerate and leave to soak in marinade up to 24 hours. (At least 30 minutes, but the longer the better for maximum flavor and juiciness.)
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with foil and place wire rack on top. Coat with nonstick spray.
3. Mix together flour, paprika, thyme, baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon Tony Chachere's seasoning and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add to sealable plastic container.
4. Remove chicken from marinade and add to flour mixture. Cover and shake to coat well. As you remove each piece of chicken from flour mixture, shake off excess flour and place on prepared rack.
5. Lightly (but evenly--you don't want to leave any dry flour) coat chicken with cooking spray and bake until golden brown and crispy, 50-60 minutes. (Make sure meat thermometer reads 160-165 degrees.)
6. Serve to people who have no idea you just saved them tons of calories, carbs and fat grams that they'll never, ever miss. :-D