These sweet and salty wings are super crispy- you’ll never know they are not fried! They have the perfect flavor combination of subtle sweetness and savory saltiness that will entice your taste buds!
There was a wings only restaurant in the town I grew up that served over 100 flavors of wings- can you believe that? Yes- it was pretty amazing! They even gave you free wings on your birthday, how many would depend on your age…This is possibly the ONLY GOOD thing about getting older! haha
I have tried many wing flavors, even some strange ones like Fire and Ice (which is ranch, horseradish and hot sauce!), but my all time favorite is salt and malt. As a kid I was addicted to salt and vinegar potato chips and would dip french fries in malt vinegar. I love pickles too! I guess I just really like the taste of vinegar.
Don’t worry these wings will not make your mouth pucker with overwhelming vinegar taste. They have a hint of vinegar, balanced with a blend of spices and a hint of sweetness. Just to convince you that everyone will love these, I did a taste test with Cricket. I offered her a plain chicken wing (don’t worry, I deboned it for her), as well as a piece of chicken with my sweet salt and malt seasoning. Cricket went to the sweet and salty one first and scarfed it down! Then she ate the plain one… I know what you’re thinking- maybe it’s not a fair test, and you are right if you are thinking she’d eat pretty much anything resembling and smelling like chicken!
Nagi, from RecipeTin Eats, has a great method of baking the wings to get them extra crispy, just like they had been deep fried. I used her method and they turned out great! Much of the fat cooks off the wings, so they are healthier, but you’ll never know!
Everyone going to LOVE these!
Sweet & Salty Wings
These sweet and salty wings (think kettle corn!) are super crispy- you’ll never know they are not fried!
- 4 lbs of all natural chicken wings
- 2 tablespoons of baking POWDER (not soda)
- ¾ teaspoon Himalayan or sea salt
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 3 tablespoons malt vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
- Dry Spice Mix:
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 3 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons Himalayan or sea salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- Preheat oven to 250 degrees F and place one rack in the lower-middle portion of the oven, and another rack in the upper-middle position.
- Line a cookie sheet with foil and place a wire rack on top (the kind you use to cool baked goods).
- Pat the wings dry (make sure you cut them at the joint if they aren’t cut already).
- Place the wings in a large ziploc, add the baking POWDER and ¾ teaspoon of salt and shake vigorously so they are evenly coated.
- Line the wings up on the wire rack (which is on the cookie sheet) and place them in the oven at 250 degrees F on the bottom-middle rack.
- Meanwhile mix the dry spices in a medium bowl, and mix the maple syrup and malt vinegar in a separate large bowl.
- After the 30 minutes is up turn the oven temperature up to 425 degrees F, and move the wings to the upper-middle rack position.
- Bake the wings for another 40 minutes, and flip them halfway through to make sure both sides get crispy.
- Remove the wings from the oven, and toss them in the maple syrup-malt vinegar mixture, then toss in the spice mix.
