Chipotle Honey Baked Chicken Wings

Maybe it’s because I live a relatively drama-free life that I’m so obscenely attracted to spicy food.

I’m just not one to drum up a whole lot of drama. I don’t create illnesses to obsess over. I don’t overthink the obvious. I pretty much just let things go. Just get over it. I mean, why wouldn’t you?

So when it comes to spicing up my life, I leave it to the happenings going on in the kitchen.

Thai. Cajun. Mexican. Line ‘em up, knock ‘em out and let’s get busy.

Last weekend, I had a surprise guest in my kitchen and did. just. that. and we. got. busy.

My blogging friend Ali stayed with me for a few days last week while she was visiting Utah and hitting the flicks at the Sundance Film Festival. While I was home and she was schmoozing with the beautiful people that take over Park City for the two week stint, she sent me a 911 text asking me if we could make a video of her cooking in my kitchen the next day.

Um, sure. But I had to ask, why the hurry?

Apparently, Dr. Oz called and asked her to contribute a Kansas City inspired recipe to his T.V. show, and as producers do as they will do, they needed it asap/yesterday/now. And who’s to say “no” when Dr. Oz beckons anyway? Okay, maybe Oprah, but hey, we’re no Oprah.

No big deal. No drama. Let’s do this thing and play!

So we pulled a few tricks out of the hat and got busy. Or, I should clarify that she whipped up a recipe and my man got busy skinning 3 pounds of chicken wings for us. That was of course after a few eyelashes were batted and a run for his favorite Mexican breakfast burrito was made in addition to promises of no more honey-do assignments while he watched football for the rest of the day. Me-can-do that for my-honey-man.

Skinning these devils is the absolute WORST part of chicken wings, but it’s our favorite way to prepare them, so he does the dirty work…and I smile in that way he knows means business…and the flavor infuses the meat instead of the skin…and I enjoy them so much more…and he gets the kudos in return.

Ali prepared a Skinny BBQ Baked Chicken Wings recipe for her bunch ‘o wings and enjoyed them for every single one of the 537 takes I made her do and redo. Because chicken wings aren’t the most delicate thing to eat. Just sayin’.

After the video making was done, we ended up with some extra naked wings in need of some dressing. So when my man and I were playing around with what to do with the rest, we went for our go-to flavor profile: Spicy and sweet and …

About the recipe:

The slow build is what I think I like the best about these Chipotle Honey Baked Chicken Wings. That’s the smoked paprika. The sticky sweetness is of course thanks to the honey. A few dry spices round it all out and make it suckery, fingery, lickable.

If you haven’t had baked wings, you’ll soon figure out baked is where it’s at. No slippery layers of skin to try and break your teeth through. No added calories or mess that goes along with deep frying. I say bake or go home.

Okay, let’s address the elephant in the room: Skinning those bad boys. No, it isn’t fun. No, there isn’t a shortcut. So sharpen your knife and just deal with it. Seriously, skinless makes all of the difference.

5 from 2 votes

Chipotle Honey Baked Chicken Wings

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Ingredients 

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• 1 pound chicken wings
• ½ cup honey
• 1 cup ketchup
• 4 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce chopped
• 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

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Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Skin and clean the chicken wings, removing any extra fat or tendons and place in a medium size bowl and set aside.
• In a small saucepan combine the remaining ingredients and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
• Add ½ cup of the sauce to the chicken wings and toss to coat.
• Lightly spray a baking rack with cooking spray and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place the wings on the baking rack and baste the wings then bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
• Remove the wings from the oven and baste with the remaining sauce. Raise the heat to 450 degrees and bake for 5 more minutes or until caramelized. Remove and serve with additional sauce and Ranch dressing if desired.
• ** If you want to use the remaining Chipotle Honey sauce as a dip for the chicken wings, be sure to bring the sauce to a boil for a few minutes, stirring constantly, to cook out any contamination that may have occurred when basting back and forth from the wings to the sauce.

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