Cheez-it chicken tenders

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups Cheez-It Crackers (use regular rather than low-fat)

1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

1 large egg

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 to 1.25 pounds boneless skinless chicken tenders

ranch dressing, blue cheese dressing, ketchup, etc. for serving if desired

Directions

Preheat oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil for easier cleanup; set aside.

To a large ziptop storage bag add the Cheez-It's, seal bag and crush the crackers with your fist from the outside until you have fine crumbs. Tip - Roll a rolling pin, beer bottle, soda can, or something similar over the bag to pulverize the crumbs easily. I don't find it necessary to dirty my food processor for this task.

Unzip the bag, add the panko, stir to combine; set bag aside.

To a medium bowl, add the egg, salt, pepper, lightly beat the egg with a fork, add the chicken, and toss and flip chicken with the fork so all pieces are coated evenly.

Remove chicken from the bowl using the fork (discard excess egg), drop it into the plastic bag, seal bag, and toss and shake bag to evenly coat the chicken.

Place chicken pieces on the prepared baking sheet, evenly spaced. Tip - Take the excess crumbs that are in the bag and use your fingers or a spoon to firmly push them onto the chicken in any sparsely coated areas.

Bake for about 15 minutes, flip midway through cooking if desired. Serve immediately with your favorite dip or dressing if desired.