Corn Flakes are good. So good, that the sweet, crunchy cereal is the nation’s favorite way to start the day. Corn Flakes are also a good way to end the day with the evening’s meal.
I love fried chicken, except fried chicken is not the best performer on a low-calorie diet. It’s a sure-fire weight gain. But if you make the breading out of crushed Corn Flakes and bake the chicken in a hot oven, it’s almost as good as traditional fried chicken and far less fattening.
Last week, after writing about how good Payton’s Grocery Fried Chicken is, I was craving fried chicken. So I stopped at the store on the way home and bought a big box of Corn Flakes. I also picked up some chicken thighs and cooked a batch of oven baked fried chicken. It was especially good.
A very simple recipe and easy to prepare, here’s how I do Corny Fried Chicken.
You need four things – chicken, butter, garlic salt and Corn Flakes – plus salt and pepper, but you always need salt and pepper.
For the chicken, I chose skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs, but I looked for and picked out the smallest pieces. They cook quicker and have less fat. For this recipe, however, you could use any pieces of chicken, even boneless and skinless, but that skin – when crispy and laced with Corn Flakes – makes this an extra tasty dish.
Salt and pepper the chicken, and sprinkle with garlic salt and let it come to near-room temperature on the counter.
Pour a couple cups of Corn Flakes into a gallon size Zip Loc bag and crush the flakes thoroughly with a heavy round glass.
The smaller the flakes, the better, so keep pounding until the flakes are fine. Now for the piece de resistance– butter! Melt a stick of butter in the microwave. Be careful not to scald yourself but dip each chicken piece in the melted butter and then in the crumbled Corn Flakes. Press the pieces down several times on each side until well coated. Another secret – put the breaded chicken on a piece of parchment paper. You will want to turn the chicken once and this makes the job (and cleanup) easier and it helps the flakes adhere to the chicken throughout the process. I cooked my chicken in a 425 oven until crispy brown on one side (about 35 minutes) but the time can vary with the size of the chicken pieces. Just watch it and don’t let it burn. Flip the chicken once and brown on the other side. The chicken should be done in about 50 minutes, but if in doubt, poke the chicken and test for doneness. The juices should run clear. Breasts, by the way, cook faster than thighs.
The Corn Flakes breading is sweet and crispy and the flavor of the chicken bursts through. Like Tony the Tiger says, “It’s great!!”
Corny (Oven Baked) Fried Chicken
6 Skin-On, Bone-In Chicken Thighs (the smaller, the better)
1 t garlic salt
1 stick of melted butter
2 C crushed Corn Flakes
S & P to taste
