Maple Pretzel Chicken

***This recipe was found in Taste of Home magazine, submitted by Tara Szlag of Columbus, OH***

Prep/Total Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (5 oz. each)
1 egg
1/2 cup maple syrup
1-1/2 cups crushed pretzels
1/4 cup canola oil

Flatten chicken breasts to 1/2-inch thickness. In a shallow bowl, whisk egg and syrup. Place pretzels in separate shallow bowl. Dip chicken in egg mixture, then coat with pretzels.

In a large skillet, cook chicken in oil over medium heat for 5-6 minutes on each side or until juice run clear.

First off, you need to know that your pretzels need to be FINELY crumbled. The coarser they are, the harder they will be to coat the chicken. That said, I did finely crush mine. HOWEVER, I considered this recipe a "fail" the night I did it. I did everything according to the recipe and ended up with the coating not staying on the chicken when it cooked. It smelled amazing and even tasted great (especially to my 5-year old who thought it was "so cool" that he got to have maple syrup and pretzels on his chicken). The end result isn't too sweet, which is great, and it's a tasty combination. I just didn't like the process so I guess I need to play around with it more.

Family Chef's Grade: Taste: B+ Process: C