Crispy Chicken Fingers

We were invited to join a couple other families on an outing today. At 8:40 am the one who organized the day called me to say everyone was running late and it came up that I was supposed to make chicken :-) She had sent an email at 6 something this morning but I had just turned my computer on when she called. Unfortunately, I had no chicken in the house. Fortunately Troy had just left the house and I called him to run to the store for chicken and cereal. Unfortunately he forgot the cereal. Fortunately I needed to let the chicken soak in the buttermilk for 15 minutes. Anyway, my fortunately and unfortunately could go on and on but I will get to the point. I got the call at 8:40 am with no chicken in the house and out the door at 10 am with these chicken fingers cooked and ready for our yummy lunch. It is a fast, easy, semi-healthy (compared to McD or W*ndys) recipe. We had the leftovers tonight for dinner and they were still yummy :-)

1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut across into 1/2 inch-thick slices
1/2 cup lowfat buttermilk (could use coconut milk or almond milk for dairy free option)
Cooking spray
4 cups whole grain cereal such as Corn Chex (for a gluten free option) or corn flakes (not gluten free)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Combine the chicken and buttermilk in a shallow dish, turning the chicken to coat it with buttermilk. Cover and chill for 15 minutes.
Coat two baking sheets with cooking spray.
Put the cereal in a sealable plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin. Transfer the crumbs to a shallow dish and season them with salt and pepper. Dip each piece of chicken in the cereal to fully coat and arrange on the prepared baking sheets. Bake until cooked through, about 8 minutes. Leave the chicken on the baking sheet to cool slightly. It will become crispier.
Serve with honey mustard sauce or other sauce if desired.

Ok - now for my notes :-) First I did a lot more chicken than this recipe called for. I did about 3 or 4 pounds and since I was making it for several 3 year olds and younger I cut it up into chunks rather than strips. I used the Corn Chex and ended up using the whole box.
I baked mine for double the time it says here as well. After 8 minutes they were still pretty pink in the middle - 16 minutes was good and they were still very moist. I did not have time to let them cool on the baking sheets as I was short on time so they were not as crispy as they could have been. I reheated the leftovers in the oven for dinner and they were nice and crispy. Everyone who tried them today thought they were great.