sprinklefingers

i seriously don’t understand why my child - who is THREE, mind you - won’t eat chicken fingers. it’s a mystery. his best three year old buds chow down on chicken fingers and he’s all, “no thank you. but if you happen to have any thai chicken satay laying around in the back, i’ll take that. thank you.” crazy. and amazing.

in an effort to triple-dog-dare him to not eat chicken fingers, i decided to ‘trick’ him with a little dish called pretzel chicken. yes, you’ve heard of it. yes, rachael ray did a big giant thing on it. yes, even sandra lee has put her own semi-homemade spin on it. but i really, honestly couldn’t see my kid passing up pretzel chicken, so i whipped some up.

here’s how it went down: husband and i ate as much pretzel chicken as we could. i think he hid some under his pillow as a midnight snack (which is fine with me because i ate my (secret) fair share as it was coming out of the frying pan and the boys were still playing outside.) the kid? i put a plate of pretzel chicken in front of him knowing in my heart of hearts he would never resist it. and guess what? he wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole. honestly. he ate carrots & squash. apple slices & watermelon. whole grain bread with butter. but he wouldn’t touch the chicken. sigh.

to ease my pain, i beg you to make pretzel chicken. and enjoy it. because it is soooo good. especially when you’re in the mood for chicken fingers.

pretzel chicken

you need:

• canola oil
• 1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 3 eggs
• 3 T half & half
• 2 T honey mustard
• 1/2 big bag of salted pretzels, smashed with rolling pin

to make pretzel chicken:

1. get out your best frying pan and add enough canola oil to it to coat the entire bottom. heat to medium.
2. cut chicken into manageable fingers - pounding them out to achieve uniform thickness.
3. in a bowl, whisk together eggs, half & half and honey mustard.
4. pour pretzel bits into another bowl.
5. dredge chicken into the egg mixture, then coat completely with the pretzels. as you finish coating each piece with pretzels, place it on a cooling rack that you’ve placed inside a rimmed baking sheet. (this will allow the egg mixture to dry slightly before hitting the hot oil.)
6. cook chicken in canola oil for 3-4 minutes per side.
7. eat & love pretzel chicken. especially with honey mustard.