COCONUT BREADED CHICKEN TENDERS
1 pound chicken tenders, about 5-6
1 egg white
1/2 cup coconut flour, 1 3/4 ounces *
Seasoning of your choice
Cooking oil, about 1/4 cup
Heat about 1/4 cup of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, in a shallow bowl, beat the egg white with a fork until frothy. Put the coconut flour in another shallow bowl. Place all of the chicken tenders in the egg white and toss with your fingers to coat them well. One at a time, roll the tenders in the coconut flour. Shaking off any excess flour, place the tenders on a small baking sheet or plate. Sprinkle with your choice of seasoning on both sides. When the oil is hot, gently put all of the chicken tenders in the pan. Flip them over when the first side is nicely browned. Be gentle so that the coating doesn't come off. The chicken should be done on the inside by the time the coating has browned. They cook very quickly in only a couple minutes per side.
Makes about 3 servings
Do not freeze
* You won't use all of the flour so I only counted about 1/4 cup in the carb counts.
Per Serving: 374 Calories; 21g Fat; 38g Protein; 6g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 2g Net Carbs
This was more of an experiment than anything else. I have some coconut flour that I've been trying to find a use for and thought it might make a good breading. It does have a nice, subtle coconut flavor, but it doesn't seem to get crispy and it soaks up oil like a sponge. I started out with about 2 tablespoons of oil in my skillet and had to keep adding more as they cooked because the pan had gone almost completely dry. The strange thing is that after the fried tenders sat on the serving plate for a few minutes, much of that oil ran off again. I think that next time I will try mixing it with a little almond flour like I did with my Coconut Chicken recipe. Perhaps that will give the coating a little more crunch. I think that the coconut flour might work very well for breading my Coconut Crusted Chicken Patties and Crab Cakes or Fish Cakes.
UPDATE: I had to adjust the nutritional counts because I recently found out that the counts on the coconut flour package had changed.