The eating spectrum swings wildly around here--yesterday was this super colorful and good-for-you dip, today it's chicken wings! Yay! Always easy to cheer for wings, right? And today there's even more to cheer about because these are baked, not fried and if you've got some football watching to do in the near future (which some of my most favorite people have told me is something to be kinda excited about) then these healthier, but still majorly delicious chicken wings, are the perfect tailgate food! 

Sorta spicy, sorta sweet and sticky and not at all heavy or greasy, these are a truly yummy treat that doesn't take all that much effort and won't derail your dieting efforts either. 

Before you bake them in the oven, the wings get brushed with a mixture of butter, red pepper flakes and Sriracha sauce, giving them that fiery tang (if you don't like your wings on the spicier side, you can definitely tone them down a bit too) but the spice works really well with the honey/vinegar glaze.

And as perfect as they are for game day nibbling, they're also great as a weeknight main dish. We couldn't wait for a game to try them out and you don't have to either. Just make sure you've got plenty of napkins on hand. I speak from experience!!

Spicy Honey-Vinegar Baked Chicken Wings

Makes about 6 servings, more if you're servings lots of other snacks

Prep Time:  About 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
• About 3 pounds chicken wings (I used a party pack with no wing tips)
• Kosher salt
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha hot sauce
• Chopped scallions for garnish

The Recipe

1.  Preheat oven to 375ºF. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

2.  Place the honey in a small pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Let it cook for about 5-7 minutes and when it starts to foam and turn a light shade of brown, remove from the heat and pour in the vinegar. Return to the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes until sauce thickens slightly. Stir in the black pepper, remove from the heat and set aside.

3.  If you haven't bought a party pack of wings, cut each wing into 3 pieces and season with salt. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat and stir in the red pepper flakes and Sriracha. Brush half the butter mixture on the wings and bake for about 20 minutes until wings are beginning to get brown on top.

4.  Remove from the oven and turn on the broiler. Turn the wings over and brush the bottoms with the remaining butter mixture. Broil the wings for 2-3 minutes on the first side. Then turn over and broil on second side until blackened in some spots and entirely cooked through. Drizzle with the honey vinegar mixture and sprinkle with the chopped scallions for garnish. Serve extra sauce on the side for dipping.

Enjoy!

Note:  Recipe adapted from The Home Cook by Alex Guarnaschelli. I cut down on the salt and left out the squeeze of lime juice at the end.