Smoky Brown Sugar Wings with Blue Cheese Dip

Last week I brought you the wonderful news (and delicious recipe) that the wings series that Chewsy Lovers and I began last year during football season was BACK and this week I’m bringing you one of my favorite wing recipes I’ve made to date. Oh, I’m so excited! This weeks wing recipe was one that I dreamed up. One of my very favorite seasonings is smoked paprika. I just love the flavor and depth that it brings to almost any dish and I thought it would be a wonderful main flavor for wings with some brown sugar. I didn’t want saucy wings, I just wanted a crisp wing that knocked you out with a punch of flavor and this recipe absolutely does not disappoint. One of my favorite parts of our wing series is that I try to challenge myself by bringing you not only a variety of different wing flavors, but also a variety of wing cooking techniques. This technique is also one of my favorites, I basically drenched uncooked wings in melted butter, then drenched them in the seasonings and baked them. I did add a bit of flour to the seasonings to soak up some of the moisture that was sure to come with the butter, the chicken and the brown sugar, and I cooked the wings at a bit of a lower temperature because I knew the brown sugar has a tendency to burn if cooked too high. 400 was the perfect temperature and cooking the wings for 25 minutes on each side brought just the results I wanted. These wings were everything I wanted, and more. Tangy with a deep smoky flavor and the blue cheese dressing was simply amazing. I love to balance flavors, sweet with spicy, creamy with crispy. The blue cheese dip was just what these smoky, sticky wings needed. Follow along for the rest of the month as I partner with Mandi from Chewsy Lovers to bring you all the best wing flavors to feast on for your next tailgate party. If you make any of our recipes be sure to share the photos and use the hashtag #ChicksWingIt so we can check it out. You can also follow all of the delicious recipes on our very own Pinterest board below.

Ingredients for Smoky Brown Sugar Wings:

• 1/2 cup salted butter, melted
• 4 lbs chicken wings (drummettes)
• 5 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (powder)
• (optional) 5 chives, chopped, plus one to cut into strips for dip garnish

Ingredients for Blue Cheese Dip:

• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 5 oz crumbled blue cheese
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Melt butter and add to a gallon freezer bag.

Wash wings and pat dry, then add to the freezer bag with melted butter. Seal bag and shake around until all wings are fully coated with melted butter.

In a small bowl, add seasonings for wings. Mix well until fully combined.

Add half the bowl of seasonings to the bag of chicken, then seal the bag. Shake around until fully coated, then do it again with the remaining seasonings.

Line a baking sheet with heavy duty aluminum foil, then lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray. Assemble the wings on the sheet then bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven.

Flip wings over, then bake an additional 25 minutes. The first time you flip them there will be a lot of liquid in the bottom of the baking sheet. Don’t drain it out, because after the second half of cooking the wings will be sticky and the juice will cook through and absorb back into the wings making them sticky.

While the wings are baking, mix together all of the ingredients for the blue cheese dip. Place all ingredients in a bowl together, then stir together. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Once wings are done, remove from oven to let cool.

Serve with blue cheese dip.

Sprinkle wings with chopped chives, if desired. Refrigerate any unused dip, this recipe makes more than is used for wings alone. This dip is also great with vegetables!

Enjoy!

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