Baked Buffalo Wings



Baked Buffalo Wings

4 - 5 pounds chicken wings, cut into three pieces, discard wing tips

1 to 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter

1 cup Frank's Red Hot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce

For dipping: blue cheese dressing (we used Ken's Steak House Chunky Blue Cheese)

 

Rinse chicken wings in cold water.  Place on paper towels to dry. Blot dry with additional paper towels.

 

Generously spray two large roasting pans (with brim) with PAM non-stick cooking spray.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

Combine flour, cayenne pepper, salt and garlic powder in a large bowl.  Toss chicken wings into the flour mixture, 3 or 4 at a time, stirring around with your hands to coat the wings evenly.  Tap the wings against one another or against the side of the bowl to remove excess flour and place the wings in a single layer in the roasting pans.  Try to leave a little space between the wings so they are not crowded.
 

Place the roasting pans in the oven and bake for 45 to 50 minutes.  Turn the wings over 

approximately half way through cooking time so that both sides brown evenly. [Note: my oven and pans are such that I have to put the first pan on the upper rack to one side of the oven and then the second pan on the lower rack toward the opposite side of the oven.  I move the pans from the upper to the lower racks and I also rotate the pans around 180 degrees halfway through the cooking time to help the wings brown evenly].

 

While the wings bake, combine the melted butter and the hot sauce in a large bowl.  Line a large sheet pan (I used a jelly roll pan approximately 11x15x1) with aluminum foil; spray with PAM.

Remove the baked wings from oven and reduce the oven temperate to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. If desired, put baked wings on paper towels to drain/absorb excess fat. Then, using tongs, dip each wing in the sauce and then put the coated wings into the aluminum foil lined pan.  Place in oven and bake an additional 5 to 6 minutes.

 



 

My camera battery was dead when we had dinner last night so I took the photo on the left... cold chicken wings. 
 Not good depiction of how these looked right out of the oven.

I found the picture on the right on Google Images.  Our wings looked much like this when we ate them hot out of the oven last night.  Mmmm, Mmmmm, good.  They guys and I really enjoyed the wings.  I liked that they were baked and not fried.  It's still a rather rich dinner.
 I also loved that this meal was much, much cheaper than going out for wings at a restaurant.