Crispy Baked Buffalo Wings (Baking Powder Method)
No fryer and no fuss: wings tossed with baking powder and salt, roasted on a rack in a very hot oven, broiled for extra crunch and tossed in a quick hot sauce, butter and molasses sauce.
Deep frying at home is the hardest part of wings, so test kitchens went looking for a way to get crisp skin from an oven. America's Test Kitchen's answer is a spoonful of baking powder: tossed on the dry wings, it dries out the skin so it crisps in a very hot oven, while a wire rack lets the rendered fat drip away (WNYC's reprint of the recipe below). Cook's Country calls baking powder its "secret weapon" for oven wings, and its slower version starts the wings at 250°F to render the fat before finishing at 425°F, about 1 1/2 hours in all. This one takes about an hour, hands-off.
🇺🇸 This one is American
No fryer and no fuss: wings tossed with baking powder and salt, roasted on a rack in a very hot oven, broiled for extra crunch and tossed in a quick hot sauce, butter and molasses sauce.
🇺🇸 The original
The Buffalo original is plain: wings fried without any breading, tossed in a hot sauce and melted butter, served with celery and blue cheese dressing. See the Buffalo Wings (Anchor Bar Style) recipe.
📖 Origin story: Who Really Invented Buffalo Wings? The Anchor Bar vs John Young →
Why it works the kitchen science
Baking powder
It dries the skin's surface so it browns and crisps in the very hot oven instead of steaming (ATK).
Rack plus broiler
The rack lets fat drip away so the bottoms don't stew, and the broiler adds the last layer of crunch and char (ATK).
Step by step
- Step 1
Set an oven rack in the middle position and heat the oven to 475°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and set a wire rack on it.
- Step 2
Pat the wings dry, toss them with the baking powder and salt, and arrange them in a single layer on the rack.
- Step 3
Roast about 40 minutes, flipping the wings and rotating the sheet halfway, until golden on both sides.
- Step 4
Meanwhile, whisk the hot sauce, melted butter and molasses in a large bowl.
- Step 5
Move the rack 6 inches from the broiler and heat the broiler. Broil the wings 6 to 8 minutes, flipping halfway, until golden brown and crisp on both sides and the thickest drumette reads 165°F.
- Step 6
Add the wings to the sauce, toss and serve.
Crispy Baked Buffalo Wings (Baking Powder Method)
Serves 4 (as a main; 6 as a snack) · about 24 wing pieces and about 3/4 cup sauce · 58 min total
Wings
- 3 lb chicken wings, halved at the joint, tips removed
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
Sauce
- 2/3 cup cayenne pepper sauce (Frank's RedHot Original style)
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1 tbsp molasses
Method
- Set an oven rack in the middle position and heat the oven to 475°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and set a wire rack on it.
- Pat the wings dry, toss them with the baking powder and salt, and arrange them in a single layer on the rack.
- Roast about 40 minutes, flipping the wings and rotating the sheet halfway, until golden on both sides.
- Meanwhile, whisk the hot sauce, melted butter and molasses in a large bowl.
- Move the rack 6 inches from the broiler and heat the broiler. Broil the wings 6 to 8 minutes, flipping halfway, until golden brown and crisp on both sides and the thickest drumette reads 165°F.
- Add the wings to the sauce, toss and serve.
Adapted from America's Test Kitchen's "Oven-Baked Buffalo Wings" in "The America's Test Kitchen New Family Cookbook", as reprinted by WNYC on September 26, 2014, as written (ATK says 4 to 6; we call it 4). The 165°F check is from USDA FSIS. The brief asked for about 45 minutes; ATK's method needs about 48 minutes of oven time, so we kept its times rather than undercook the skin. wnyc.org. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (2)
Tips
- Use aluminum-free baking powder if you are sensitive to its metallic taste (Cook's Country).
- Not in a Buffalo mood? Skip the sauce and toss the wings with the lemon pepper seasoning from our Atlanta Lemon Pepper Wet Wings recipe or the garlic butter from our Garlic Parmesan Wings recipe.
- ATK suggests serving them with a creamy blue cheese dip; the dressing in our Buffalo Wings recipe works.
- Have more time? Cook's Country's low-then-high method renders even more fat.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Baking powder makes oven wings crisp. Documented (ATK; Cook's Country: "Baking powder is our secret weapon").
- Baked wings can't match fried. Folklore: a matter of taste; the broiler gets them close.
- Use aluminum-free baking powder. Documented only as Cook's Country's advice for people who notice a metallic taste.
Every other wing
Buffalo Wings (Anchor Bar Style)
Unbreaded wings fried crisp and tossed in a buttery cayenne pepper sauce, served with celery, carrots and a chunky blue cheese dressing, the way Buffalo's Anchor Bar made them famous.
Atlanta Lemon Pepper Wet Wings
Crisp fried wings tossed in melted butter with a little hot sauce, lemon and honey, then showered with a homemade lemon pepper seasoning: Atlanta's favorite way to order wings.
DC Carryout Wings with Mambo Sauce
Whole wings dredged in seasoned flour and fried hard, then drenched in mambo sauce, the sweet, tangy, red carryout sauce Washington calls its own.
Garlic Parmesan Wings
Oven-baked wings with crackly skin, tossed in melted butter with fresh garlic, Parmesan and parsley and run under the broiler: the no-heat wing found on many American wing menus.
Hot Honey Wings
Wings in a light seasoned-flour coat, fried crisp and tossed in melted butter, chili-infused honey, cider vinegar and red pepper flakes: sweet first, heat second.
Nagoya Tebasaki (Sweet Soy Chicken Wings)
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Wings rubbed with a pounded paste of garlic, coriander root, white pepper and soy sauce, dusted with flour, fried golden and served with crisp fried lime leaves and sweet chili sauce.
Chinese Coca-Cola Chicken Wings (Ke Le Ji Chi)
Wings browned with ginger in a skillet, then simmered in cola, soy sauce and Shaoxing wine until the liquid cooks down to a sticky, shiny glaze: a Chinese home-cooking classic.
Jamaican Jerk Wings
Wings marinated in a blended paste of scallions, Scotch bonnet, thyme, garlic, allspice and soy, grilled slowly on the cool side, then brushed with fresh paste and charred over the fire.
Filipino Adobo Chicken Wings
Wings marinated and simmered in vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, black pepper and bay leaves, then tossed in the cooking liquid boiled down to a glaze with onions and served with sweet homemade banana ketchup.
Creamy Parmesan Garlic Wings, Inspired by Buffalo Wild Wings
Inspired by, not official: plain fried wings tossed in a creamy sauce of roasted garlic, mayonnaise, Parmesan, lemon and dried herbs, in the style of the sports-bar chain's Parmesan Garlic flavor.
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