Fried chicken wings are some of my favorite things to eat….at a restaurant.

At home, I’d rather not deal with the mess of frying up a whole load of wings. So, when I make wings, I bake them.

Any recipe that calls itself “The Best” always gets my attention. This Oven-Fried Chicken Wing recipe differed from others that I have tried in that the wings are tossed with baking powder prior to baking, first in a low heat oven which gets increased to high for the final cook time. The result is wings that are juicy and tender within while remaining crispy on the outside, even after tossing with sauce.

J’adore Buffalo Sauce, so of course I made that. The Sweet And Spicy Thai Wing Sauce recipe that also accompanied the wing recipe sounded great, so I made that, too. I halved the quantities of both sauces and divided the wings between them before bringing them to the table so my family could choose whichever or bothever they like.

The verdict: Winner wings. Winner sauces.

The Best Oven-Fried Chicken Wings

Ingredients:

4 pounds chicken wings, tips removed, drumettes and flats separated
2 tablespoons baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
Buffalo Wing Sauce (recipe follows)
Sweet And Spicy Thai Wing Sauce (recipe follows)

Directions:

1. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions. Preheat oven to 250°F

2. Set a wire rack inside a large rimmed baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.

3. Pat wings dry and transfer to a large zipper-lock bag. Combine baking powder and salt and add to wings. Seal bag and toss to coat.

4. Arrange wings, skin side up, in a single layer on prepared rack.

5. Bake wings on lower-middle rack for 30 minutes.

6. Move wings to upper-middle rack, increase oven temperature to 425°F and roast until wings are golden brown and crispy, 45–50 minutes.

7. Remove wings from oven and let stand for 5 minutes. Transfer wings to bowl with wing sauce of your choice and toss to coat.

Serves 4 to 6

Buffalo Wing Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup hot pepper sauce (such as Frank’s RedHot®)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 Tbs molasses
Crumbled blue cheese, to serve

Directions:

1. Combine first three ingredients in a large bowl.

2. Serve wings with a sprinkle of blue cheese.

Sweet And Spicy Thai Wing Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup lime juice
1 Tbs toasted sesame oil
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 garlic clove, minced
2 Tbs fish sauce
Sliced green onion, to garnish

Directions:

1. Combine first 5 ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.

2. Off heat, stir in the fish sauce and transfer to a large bowl.
Recipes from Cook’s Country Magazine

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