Baked Chicken Wings with Spicy Dijon Molasses Sauce

I’ve got kind of a thing for chicken wings. During football season I’d estimate that I probably eat a chicken wings at least once every 24 hours. That might be a slight exaggeration, but the point is, I like wings a lot. So, naturally, I’ve saved up a lot of recipes to try at home. I made one that was such a colossal failure that I didn’t post it here. But these turned out pretty ok. I wouldn’t say that I’ve found the perfect recipe quite yet, but this is a nice stop on the way to perfection. It’s got a little spice, a little sweet, and the mustard gives it a complexity and sets it apart from your normal wings. I found the recipe on Living Lou’s blog and made a couple tiny tweaks (incorporated below).

Spice Rub

1 tbsp chipotle chili pepper powder

1 tsp sweet paprika

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp dried mustard

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp brown sugar

Sauce

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

1/4 cup spicy mustard

1/4 cup molasses

5 tbsp ketchup

2 tbsp honey

1 tbsp chili garlic sauce

1 tbsp Worcestershire

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp chipotle hot sauce

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

3 pounds chicken wings

I actually used Kroger drummies for this instead of actual wings. If you use wings, make sure to break them down and remove the tips. Preheat the oven to 375. Mix your spice rub ingredients together in a bowl and then pour it over the drummies, mixing them around to make sure they are all evenly covered. I laid them out on a foil lined baking sheet which made them super easy to clean up after. Cook them for 15-18 minutes on one side, then flip them and cook for 15-18 minutes on the other. Mine went for 17 minutes each side.

While the wings are baking, mix up your sauce ingredients in a bowl. Refrigerate it until you need it. After the wings have baked the full time, take them out of the oven and set it to broil. Put the wings in a large bowl and pour about half of the sauce over them, mixing to make sure they are all coated. They should look pretty delicious right now, but don’t skip the next step!

Lay them back out on the baking sheet (you may want to lay out new foil) and broil for two minutes on one side, and one minute on the other. Now they are ready to serve with the remaining sauce for dipping. Or you could go with the classic Ranch or bleu cheese, but they aren’t crazy spicy so I don’t think you need it. Hope you like them, and look forward to some more wing recipes in the future as I try to find a favorite!

(click here for printable recipe)