Crispity crunchy oven ‘fried’ goodness, these home made chicken tenders will have you wondering what you ever saw in those fast food emporium or frozen snax-in-a-box varieties; and if you’re worried about how the childrens might react to the honey mustard – no worries! For milder, more picky-eater friendly chicken tenders, skip the honey mustard entirely, but do marinate the tenders in this fine bit of seasoned buttermilk for a couple of hours or (more better, as always) overnight first, then serve these tasty morsels with whatever.
The original recipe, courtesy of the nice folk at General Mills, called for using Corn Chex cereal, but we had Rice Chex in the pantry, so that’s how I rolled. They also specified a honey mustard coating mixture, which I used with just one addition, and then equal 
parts honey and mayonnaise mixed into a dipping sauce. I just happened to have a jar of my own honey mustard dressing in the fridge, and I have to say, it worked a treat on the cooked chicken and the salad I served with – so you do what you want.
INGREDIENTS
•4 cups Chex® cereal
•1/2 cup mayonnaise
•1/2 cup honey
•1/3 cup yellow mustard
•1 tbsp sherry peppers sauce, optional
•1 lb chicken tenders*
*Or one pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into strips.
Heat oven to 375°, line a half-sheet pan with aluminum foil and if you have one, add the fitted rack to the pan and apply a bit of cooking spray.
Place the cereal in a gallon-sized zipper bag, then crush with a rolling pin (a wine bottle’d probably do the trick, too) until you have a nice bag o’ crumbs.
Combine the mayonnaise, honey, yellow mustard, and – if you’re using it – sherry peppers sauce (or hot sauce) together, then pour into a large, flat-bottomed dish.
Dip the chicken strips into the honey mustard blend, then drop a couple of strips at a time into the crushed chex crumbs in the bag and toss to coat well.
Transfer the chicken strips to the prepared baking pan and repeat with the remaining chicken.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes – these were kinda large tenders, so I went 30 minutes, then let them rest for five minutes on top of the stove before serving.
I kept things simple for dinner; the chicken, a chopped romaine, feta, and sweet onion salad, and some of my honey mustard salad dressing and dipping sauce on top.
Nice dinner.
If you plan to try these with the buttermilk marinade, do give the chicken at least a couple of hours to soak in the buttermilk before coating. After that, it should be all good – with the honey mustard sauce, or barbecue sauce, or ketchup, or…