To get everything ready:
Preheat the oven to 400.
Ensure your Ginger Ale or carbonated water is cold.
Combine the batter ingredients (except Ginger Ale or carbonated water) and sift into a bowl. If you skip the sifting, whisk them to combine and aerate.
Place panko breadcrumbs in a bowl or a large plate.
Generoursly oil a baking sheet with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil - use as much or as little oil as desired, but keep in mind that the oil will help the chicken to crisp up.
Remove the skin from your chicken pieces, if desired. This will further lower the calories and don't worry, the chicken won't dry out.
Pour1 cup of Ginger Ale or carbonated water into the sifted batter ingredients. Whisk to combine. At first the batter will bubble up. The batter should be quite runny but should still coat the back of your spoon if you use it to test for consistency. The goal here is to gently drench the chicken and get the panko crumbs to adhere. We are not creating the same thick batter we would use for a deep-fryer tempura. To reach the described consistency, add the remaining Ginger Ale 1 TBSP at a time; I almost always use the full 1 1/2 cups of Ginger Ale to get that perfect consistency.
Dip the chicken into the batter, hold it above the bowl letting the excess batter to drip down. Then drench the chicken lightly into the Panko breadcrumbs and place on a prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining pieces of chicken.
MORE IS NOT BETTER when breading this chicken. Bread lightly. You want the panko to be distributed evenly but lightly. This will result in crunchy, properly cooked chicken and coating.
Very lightly drizzle with olive oil. If you have an oil spray - that would work best as it will evenly coat the chicken with oil, help it crisp up while using as little oil as possible.
Bake your chicken in the preheated oven for 35-45 minutes, turning it 180° after about 30 minutes of cooking. If you breaded the chicken lightly, everything should be properly cooked at about 40 minutes - the breading should be crisp and the chicken should still be very juicy. If you breaded the chicken rather heavily, you may need a few extra minutes for the coating to crisp up. Check with an instant read digital thermometer - the internal temperature of the chicken should be at least 175 (legs are safe at 165, however, the connective tissue is not yet broken down at that temperature and the meat will be too chewy.)
If desired, broil the chicken for just a minute or two, but the skin will likely already be quite golden and crispy. Finish with a light sprinkle of salt. Enjoy!
Ingredients
Directions
To get everything ready:
Preheat the oven to 400.
Ensure your Ginger Ale or carbonated water is cold.
Combine the batter ingredients (except Ginger Ale or carbonated water) and sift into a bowl. If you skip the sifting, whisk them to combine and aerate.
Place panko breadcrumbs in a bowl or a large plate.
Generoursly oil a baking sheet with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil - use as much or as little oil as desired, but keep in mind that the oil will help the chicken to crisp up.
Remove the skin from your chicken pieces, if desired. This will further lower the calories and don't worry, the chicken won't dry out.
Pour1 cup of Ginger Ale or carbonated water into the sifted batter ingredients. Whisk to combine. At first the batter will bubble up. The batter should be quite runny but should still coat the back of your spoon if you use it to test for consistency. The goal here is to gently drench the chicken and get the panko crumbs to adhere. We are not creating the same thick batter we would use for a deep-fryer tempura. To reach the described consistency, add the remaining Ginger Ale 1 TBSP at a time; I almost always use the full 1 1/2 cups of Ginger Ale to get that perfect consistency.
Dip the chicken into the batter, hold it above the bowl letting the excess batter to drip down. Then drench the chicken lightly into the Panko breadcrumbs and place on a prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining pieces of chicken.
MORE IS NOT BETTER when breading this chicken. Bread lightly. You want the panko to be distributed evenly but lightly. This will result in crunchy, properly cooked chicken and coating.
Very lightly drizzle with olive oil. If you have an oil spray - that would work best as it will evenly coat the chicken with oil, help it crisp up while using as little oil as possible.
Bake your chicken in the preheated oven for 35-45 minutes, turning it 180° after about 30 minutes of cooking. If you breaded the chicken lightly, everything should be properly cooked at about 40 minutes - the breading should be crisp and the chicken should still be very juicy. If you breaded the chicken rather heavily, you may need a few extra minutes for the coating to crisp up. Check with an instant read digital thermometer - the internal temperature of the chicken should be at least 175 (legs are safe at 165, however, the connective tissue is not yet broken down at that temperature and the meat will be too chewy.)
If desired, broil the chicken for just a minute or two, but the skin will likely already be quite golden and crispy. Finish with a light sprinkle of salt. Enjoy!
