Baked Buffalo Wings

When I was first getting to know my (now) husband, I was relieved to discover there would never be a sports team rivalry in our house. The only sport he (mildly) cares for is football, and his favorite team is ::snicker:: the 49ers. I'm not a huge sports fan myself, but I'll watch baseball if the Red Sox are playing, football if the Patriots are playing, hockey if the Bruins are playing, and basketball if the Celtics are playing (maybe).

I never dreamed we'd have such an interesting day in our house, as the day of the AFC/NFC championship games. I eagerly watched as much as I could of both games (working around our son's naps and bedtime). First - the Pats win. And down to the last few minutes, the 49ers could have pulled off a victory, too. I was a little sad at the loss, because that would have made for a really exciting Superbowl in our house!

I wanted to make buffalo wings for this day of football. I've used Alton's method/recipe before, but when I finally got around to trying that sauce, I was underwhelmed. So this time I went off in search of a new recipe, and this one caught my eye. I decided to give this new method a try, as well, as it looked a little easier and I liked the idea of baking the wings for a few minutes with the sauce on them.

We loved this spicy and slightly sweet sauce for buffalo wings. These baked wings aren't as crisp as fried ones, but I actually prefer them! To turn up the heat, increase the cayenne in the coating, or spike the sauce with some Tabasco or other favorite hot sauce.

Baked Buffalo Wings

Source: Slightly adapted from Lana's Cooking
Yield: Serves 2-3
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Inactive time: 1 hour
Cook time: 1 hour
Total time: 2 hours, 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder, or more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 20 chicken drummettes
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 3/4 cup Frank's, or your favorite hot sauce
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce

Instructions

1. Prepare a large baking sheet by lining with foil. Spray a cooling rack generously with cooking spray and place in the baking sheet.
2. Add flour, cayenne powder, garlic powder, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to a large ziploc bag. Seal the bag and shake to mix ingredients together.
3. Dry the drummettes well with paper towels, then toss in the ziploc bag until well coated, about 5 at a time. Shake off the excess flour and place on prepared rack.
4. Place the wings in the refrigerator, uncovered, for at least one hour.
5. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
6. Bake wings for 25 minutes, turn each wing over, then bake an additional 25 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, whisk together the melted butter, hot sauce, honey, soy sauce and remaining ½ teaspoon of salt in a small bowl.
8. Remove the wings from the oven and dip them 3 or 4 at a time in the sauce mixture.
9. Place the coated wings back on the pan, return the pan to the oven and cook for an additional 6-7 minutes.
10. Remove from the oven, place on a serving dish and drizzle remaining sauce over wings.