If you like your wings sweet and spicy but not in a hot way, you’ll love these baked brown-sugar Buffalo Wings.
Barbecue doesn’t have to be flaming hot to taste good. In fact, although I went through a period in my youth when I wanted everything to taste as hot as Flaming Hot Cheetos, I now reach for the sweet and zesty-style barbecue sauces. I’ve found that instead of just being about heat, I want my sauce to be more about complex flavors now. And that’s what this Buffalo wing recipe gets right. It’s all about complex flavors that shine through, thanks to the addition of a bit of brown sugar, which will help this sauce activate all the taste buds.
Brown sugar-based Buffalo wings are a sweeter, zestier take on traditional Buffalo wings. Most Buffalo sauce recipes simply call for Frank’s Hot Sauce (and, yes, I am a fan of this choice) and butter. But, here, that tablespoon of brown sugar adds just the right hint of sweetness and dark, rich molasses complexity that makes this my favorite sweet and zesty Buffalo wings recipe.
These Wings Let the Oven Do the Magic
People ask me all the time, why do you bake everything? Why not fry your chicken for a change? And the simple answer is, typically, “Because I like sitting. I’ve already been chopping, stirring, searching for utensils, trying to find a big frying pan, a little saucepan, my oven mitt, wiping down everything endlessly, finding favorite bibs and lids to sippy cups, and all this involves standing. Baking means I get to sit down and let the oven do the magic.”
And the oven does do the magic with these wings—baking them to crisp, tender perfection. And I’ve found that when a recipe goes further than the typical bake at ____ for ____ minutes and, furthermore, goes to the trouble of having you take 70 minutes to bake something because you start out low and then turn that oven up high, that means it is a recipe you can trust to turn meat truly succulent.
Why? Because that cook knows their stuff when it comes to roasting small, fatty cuts of meat.
The Secret to Lip Smackin’ Good Buffalo Wings
The secret to these so-good-you’ll-smack-something wings is in their baking powder and salt coating, which gives the chicken skin just enough of a powdery finish to absorb all that delicious brown sugar-hot sauce-butter elixir and then crisp it up as well, turning it into crunchy, sweet, zesty Buffalo wing heaven.
And the super-great thing is, kids love these like crazy. You’re getting ready to see one round table full of happy, sticky mouths and chins when you make these wings, including yours. Where’s the Handi Wipes? And do they still make those things?
How to Make Ahead and Store
Not that you’ll have leftovers, but if you do, you may refrigerate them in a tightly sealed container for 2-3 days without them getting too soggy. And believe it or not, these baked Buffalo wings freeze quite well for up to 3 months. The best method is to flash freeze them on a tray to get them hard enough to bag up without damaging that yummy coating.
Serving Suggestions
You cannot beat cornbread this and that to soak up Buffalo chicken’s sweet and tangy juices. And for accompaniments, coleslaw dishes add a cool crunch that is irresistible. This Jalapeño Skillet Cornbread would do the job nicely, as would this Mexican Coleslaw recipe. If you like this Buffalo wings recipe, you’ll love my Stuffed Buffalo Chicken Breasts recipe, filled with a ranch and cream cheese filling that complements the Buffalo sauce like crazy.
Buffalo Wings
Ingredients
- 4 lbs chicken wings separated into wingettes and drumettes
- 5 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 1/2 cup hot sauce
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- Celery sticks for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250°F. Place a rack onto a baking sheet.
- Pat chicken wings dry with paper towels. Place wings in a large bowl and sprinkle with baking powder and 3/4 teaspoon of salt, tossing to evenly coat.
- Arrange wings on the rack in a single layer. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes at 250°F.
- Increase oven temperature to 425°F. Continue to bake for 40-50 minutes until wings are crispy and golden brown, flipping halfway through.
- While wings bake, prepare the sauce by combining melted butter, hot sauce, brown sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt in a bowl.
- Toss the crispy wings in the sauce to coat evenly.
- Serve wings immediately with celery sticks on the side.
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