Buffalo Chicken Wings

It's National Chicken Wing Day! I considered writing that all in caps because I am actually that excited. Now I have to be honest, when I want wings I typically just go to my favorite happy hour restaurant or open a bag. But I decided to make them myself. It's for the blog you know not for selfish reasons at all.

I fell in love with buffalo chicken wings in college. On Friday or Saturday nights we would order pizza and wings from WHOP (Waterville House of Pizza). Yup that's what we called it WHOP. These evenings were a mish-mash of food we ordered and whatever was stocked in our dorm rooms. I got into the habit of having my wings with white rice and Nori Komi Furikake. I know, I know ....some of you are saying what?? It's a delicious rice seasoning with salt, seaweed, ground fish, sesame seeds and several other ingredients. It's delicious and it's been a habit I've kept since college. I still get the side eye from hubby whenever I go in like that. But hey, you like what you like.

Here's the kicker...I don't like my wings fried and then coated in sauce but hubby does. So I knew I had to find a cooking process that would create a nice crispy wing without the breading I can't stand. But I'm not the fryer of the family. Hubby can fry and mom can fry anything but me ...It's just not my style.  Luckily, finding a cooking method that would make the whole family happy wasn't too difficult. Thanks Test Kitchen!!

Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings

Ingredients
12 chicken wings
3 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp powder garlic

Buffalo Wing Sauce
1/2 cup of hot pepper sauce
1/3 cup of melted butter

Directions:
 Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Remove feathers and hair from the chicken. If you're having trouble, it may be helpful to burn the remaining hair and feathers off.

Cut wing into sections. Cut between the joints with a sharp knife. Discard the tip. Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel.

Mix the baking powder, paprika, salt and garlic powder.

Dreg the chicken in the mixture and place on a wire rack on a large baking sheet.

Cook for 30 minutes at 250 degrees. Then increase the temperature to 425 degrees and cook for another 30 minutes on the top rack.

Once finished, toss wings in "Buffalo Wing Sauce"AKA Hot sauce and butter.