Baked Chicken Nuggets

 

I will never again order chicken nuggets at a restaurant (unless it's Chick-Fil-A of course...I just can't get enough of those), because I can now make them just as good at home!    I wanted to create a much more healthy alternative than deep fried nuggets and these baked ones actually taste better!   They are so much better than any fast food place or frozen nuggets. The milk really tenderizes the chicken and makes them super juicy.  And broiling them for the last five minutes makes the outside perfectly crisp.  Who says chicken nuggets are just for kids?  My mom and I finished all of these off in one sitting; [we just couldn't stop popping them into our mouths!] We had them as a main dish for dinner, but they would be great as an appetizer too. Serve these with ketchup and/or honey mustard...Mmm Mmm Mmm...

Ingredients:

• 3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1/2 cup milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Cut chicken breasts into 1 1/2-inch sized pieces. In a medium bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, cheese, salt, thyme and basil. Mix well. Put milk in a bowl or dish for dipping.
3. Dip chicken pieces into the milk first, then coat with the breadcrumb mixture. Place the well-coated chicken pieces on a lightly greased cookie sheet in a single layer, and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.  Set the oven to broil, and bake for 5 more minutes.  Immediately remove cooked nuggets from cookie sheet and place on a cooling rack.  Place the cooling rack over the used cookie sheet to prevent crumbs from falling and to keep nuggets warm.