Crispy Baked Chicken Wings

I may have mentioned it before, but I’ll say it again: Chicken wings are one of my absolute favorite meals in the entire world. I love them with all sorts of different sauces or dry rubs. Usually, I grill them, allowing the skin to get a nice crisp skin. However, this year, on my birthday, grilling was NOT an option. It was negative ten degrees, and there was no way I was going outside to make my birthday dinner. I was disappointed but determined to have chicken wings either way. I started looking up techniques for baking and was left confused because all the recipes I found were so different from each other! There were so many options, with huge variations in both cook time and temperature. I decided to “wing” it, and combine a couple of different techniques together in hopes that they would turn out. (I was honestly completely unsure if they would, and had a couple options for take out just in case.) I was pleasantly surprised when my wings were done cooking, and I had the crispiest, most delicious homemade wings that I have ever made on my own! I don’t know if I will ever grill wings again now that I know this is an option.

Ingredients

2 lbs Chicken Wings

2 tbsp Baking Powder

4 tsp Cajun OR Jamaican Jerk Seasoning

*I haven’t tried this yet, but I’m pretty sure you could leave the seasoning out and use just the baking powder if you wanted to pour buffalo sauce over the top of them when they are done.

Directions

1. Cut the wings apart to separate the wingette, drumette, and wing tip. Throw the wing tips out. 

Kitchen Tip 1: Cutting wings apart can be a little challenging, but I’ve found that doing this when they are still semi-frozen makes the process easier, that way the fatty skin isn’t super slippery while trying to handle them. Find the joint, you will feel a little gap between the bones, and slice right through it.

2. Pour the baking powder and seasoning of choice into a large plastic bag. Shake the bag to combine together. 

3. Add the wings to the bag and shake until they are entirely coated

Kitchen Tip 2: The wings will look like they are only very lightly coated. This made me nervous while I was cooking, but I promise it will be enough. Don’t add more to the bag. 

4. Spread the wings out on a tin foil lined baking sheet. Do NOT grease this before putting them on it. Make sure that none of the wings are touching each other, but they can be close together if the baking sheet is on the small side. 

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, then take them out and flip them. 

Kitchen Tip 3: Be gentle during the flipping process. The skin may be sticking to the pan lightly, but if you slowly lift them with tongs, you should be able to peel them away in a way where the wing stays intact. 

6. Bake for another 20 minutes, then check them. If you still desire a slightly crispier wing, you can opt to broil them for 4-5  minutes. I chose to do this because I like extra crispy skin. 

If you love a crispy wing with delicious dry rubs, this recipe is a MUST TRY. Whether having company over and wanting an easy meal, or whipping up an appetizer to eat while binge watching Netflix, these wings are absolute perfection. Enjoy!