Baked Crispy Chicken Wings

These chicken wings get so crispy its like they're fried! They're pretty simple to make it just has a few extra steps to help them get that crispy skin. My son loves this recipe so much that he wanted them for his birthday dinner... with his usual pizza of course lol. I felt like that was a lot of food for one meal and no veggies didn't appeal to me. So, we made a compromise and I made with wings with a veggie tray (veggies made by my mother in law) for lunch and then homemade pizza and a salad (salad made by my mother) for dinner. It was a great day of eating food and a little celebration for my sons 5th birthday during a time when things a a little less normal. 

One of the unique features of this recipe is that the wings are boiled in salty water before baking them. This helps to boil out some of the excess fat that would normally sit in the pan and leaving the wings a little soggy. Once you've boiled the wings for 8 - 10 minutes (depending on how many you're cooking) you will want to drain them in a colander. Let them drip dry in the colander for a few minutes. Now is a great time to preheat your oven to 425. 

Next it is really important to drain them well and even ring the excess water out of them. It's nice if you leave them to cool a little before using a dish towel or paper towel to ring the excess water out. However, if you're like me you usually forget that they will need extra cooling time and need to get them in the oven and ready for the next meal or you will have a very hungry family soon. So I usually ring out the excess water when still hot. Its not the most enjoyable feeling on my hands but its doable. Once they've been dried well you can place them onto the cookie sheet. I like to line my cookie sheet with tinfoil as it makes clean up a little easier. I also cook them on cooling racks as this helps them crisp on all sides the entire cooking time. Adds to the extra crispy skin. 

Once your oven is preheated and all the wings are dried and ready to go into the oven, you're going to cook them for 25 minutes at 425 and then flip them and cook for an additional 5 - 10 minutes. Once they're cooked you will toss them into a bowl with your favourite seasonings and toss them around to get seasoning on all sides of the wings. For the picture below we made a few different flavours. Top left: Busters BBQ dry rub seasoning (my favourite), Top right: Dill seasoning, Bottom left: Thai Sweet Chilli, Bottom right: Franks. They were all delicious!!

I have made this recipe with 2 lbs and 3 lbs of wings before. I found that the more wings I had in the pot the longer they needed to boil. 

Ingredients:
Chicken Wings (as many as you feel like making and eating)
Salt to add to the boiling water (enough to make it salty tasting)
Seasonings to add to the wings once they're finished baking in the oven

Directions:

1. Boil the wings for 8-10 minutes in salty water

2.  Drain and dry well with paper towel or dish towel

3. Place on wire rack that is sitting on cookie sheet

4. Set oven to 425 and bake for 25 minutes

5. Flip wings and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes

6. When done cooking put in bowl with favourite seasoning and toss to coat the entire wing.

** When you are adding a wet sauce like franks it takes a little away from the crispy skin **