Chicken Nuggets

If your child is anything like mine, he will love chicken nuggets.  Not in a "I love my new pair of heels" sort of way.  In a live, die, NCAA team loyalty kind of way.  Jacob will ask for chicken nuggets EVERY day.  He asks for them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, I didn't cry at preschool, literally EVERY chance he gets.  And he only bought the argument McDonalds was closed once.  It's my fault.  I introduced him to that process, mechanically separated mistress.  I practically threw them at him.  And now I pay the price with a child who not only demands chicken nuggets, but every recipe I'd tried wasn't up to snuff.  After attempting four different methods for making chicken nuggets, I stopped researching on the internet, and turned to the experts.  I called my Uncle Mike, who works in the food industry and I called in the biggest gun I could think of:  my mom.  By piecing together their advice, with a little know how of my own, I FINALLY pieced together a recipe that works!  Jacob ate the nuggets not only in a huge quantity, he never once pointed out they weren't from McDonalds.  He even asked me to make more for dinner within an hour!  SO, I'm going to share with you what took me over a week to get right:  a great homemade chicken nugget recipe.

Ingredients:
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 cup panko bread crumbs
2 Tbsp sugar
2 eggs
3 Tbsp almond milk

Chop the chicken up into bite size pieces.  Size depends on your preference.  Mix crumbs with sugar until blended.  Whisk egg with almond milk as the basting for your nuggets. Prep your cookie sheet with parchment paper to make clean up a breeze.  Dip chicken in egg mixture and then roll in bread crumbs.  Place the nuggets on your cookie sheet.  If you like a more crunchy coating, dip chicken first in crumbs, then place in the egg mixture and coat a second time with crumbs.  We tried both methods and Jacob preferred the one coating although I enjoyed the double coating.  Bake at 350* until chicken is 160* at the thickest point.  Time will differ based on size of nuggets.
These nuggets really were great!  The sugar adds a touch of sweetness I had never thought would be so good!  The panko crumbs are thicker and crunchier than the regular bread crumbs, although you can sub those if that's all you have.  I haven't tried freezing these yet, but if you try it, let me know how it works!  Enjoy!