Prep: Heat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch casserole dish.
Flatten: Place chicken between two pieces of plastic wrap. Using a rolling pin or the flat side of a mallet, pound chicken to about 0.5 - 0.75 inch thickness. Rub olive oil all over flattened chicken breasts.
Season: Combine all remaining ingredients EXCEPT for butter in a small bowl. Sprinkle all over chicken, then lightly rub it in.
Bake: Place seasoned chicken in prepared casserole dish. Top each chicken breast with a slice of butter. Bake at 400°F until internal temperature reaches 165°F, about 18-20 minutes. Finish chicken under broiler for 1-3 minutes, until nicely browned. Serve immediately.
Notes
Ingredient notes
Chicken: If you choose to use any other cut than specified, the baking time will be different from the recipe.
Butter: Feel free to replace with olive oil or skip altogether at the expense of some juiciness and flavor.
Brown sugar: Feel free to use regular sugar if you don’t have any brown sugar on hand. You can skip it if you absolutely want to, but it does really make quite a difference to the taste of the chicken.
Seasonings: The seasoning is my favorite the way I wrote it down in the recipe. But you’re absolutely free to skip anything you don’t like, or experiment with your own ideas.
Recipe tips
I highly recommend you don't skip the flattening, it makes a big difference to the end result.
Do not overbake the chicken. I highly recommend a meat thermometer to check for an internal temperature of 165°F, it’s the most accurate way to cook any kind of meat.