Best Southern Fried Chicken Batter

Fried chicken is one of those dishes that is simple in design, but can easily fall apart in execution. It’s one of the top comfort foods, but also tends to rattle most cooks. It is deceptively simple– tender juicy inside, flavorful crispy crust. Two elements. What can go wrong?
All kinds of things. Soggy, greasy crust, under or overcooked chicken, bland flavor, dried out texture– the list seems daunting. The fantasy of a beautiful mahogany brown piece of crispy Southern goodness flies out the window after a couple of failures, and a trip to the drive through for a bucket of that white-suited guy’s stuff seems the best most of us can get.
Except there are ways to address each of these problems when you have a little culinary magic at your disposal. Here’s how to make the magic happen.

Ingredients :

3 spray(s) cooking spray
1 pound(s) uncooked boneless skinless chicken breast(s), four 4-oz pieces
1/2 tsp table salt, divided, or to taste
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, divided, or to taste
1/3 cup(s) all-purpose flour
3 oz low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup(s) cornflake crumbs

Instructions :

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Lightly coat an 13- X 8- X 2-inch baking dish with cooking spray; set aside.

Season chicken with salt and cayenne pepper to taste; set aside.

Combine flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper together in a medium-size bowl. Place buttermilk and cornflakes crumbs in 2 separate shallow bowls.

Dredge chicken in flour mixture and evenly coat both sides. Next, dip chicken into buttermilk and turn to coat both sides. Last, dredge chicken in cornflake crumbs and turn to coat both sides.

Place coated chicken breasts in prepared baking dish. Bake until chicken is tender and no longer pink in center, about 25 to 30 minutes (there is no need to flip the chicken during baking). Yields 1 chicken breast per serving.