Southwest Crispy Chicken Sliders

These little sandwiches were amazing! They were not too hard to make and any effort was worth it!


Makes 12 ( 5 points + each)


Muffins:

• ⅔ c. flour
• ⅔ c. yellow cornmeal
• ¾ tsp. baking soda
• ¼ tsp. baking powder
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ¾ c. low-fat buttermilk
• 2 T. light butter, melted
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• ⅓ c. reduced-fat shredded cheddar
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

Chicken:

• ⅔ c. Panko Japanese breadcrumbs
• 1 egg 
• ¼ c. skim milk
• 3 ( 6 oz) boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 2 T. canola oil

Additional Ingredients:

• 1 ripe, pitted avocado
• 2 tsp. lime juice
• 2 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 12 thin slices Roma tomato
• salt to taste

Preheat oven to 350 and spray a muffin pan with nonstick spray.
In a large bowl, combine flour with the next 4 ingredients.
In a small bowl, combine buttermilk, egg and butter. Stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture until just blended. Stir in cheese and jalapeno. Spoon into muffin tins and bake 14-17 minutes or until done.
Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes before removing muffins to cool completely. Split muffins crosswise.


For chicken, combine egg and milk in a shallow dish. Place Panko in another shallow dish.
Split chicken breast in half lengthwise to form 2 cutlets; cut each piece in half, crosswise, to form 12 pieces.
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 T. oil. Dip chicken in egg mixture, then coat in Panko. Cook 6 cutlets at a time for 3 minutes per side or until browned and cooked through. Repeat with remaining 1 T. oil and chicken.


To prepare additional ingredients, mash avocado in a bowl with lime juice and salt. Stir in bacon.


Spread avocado mixture over the bottoms of muffins. Top with chicken and a tomato slice. Top with muffin tops.


adapted from "Cooking Light"