Buffalo BBQ Wings

So there’s this delicious Florida restaurant called Gator’s Dockside and they make amazing grilled wings in their own “scooter sauce”. It’s bbq and honey garlic heaven! (And I am not a bbq sauce fan.) Unfortunately, we don’t have a Gator’s Dockside location in my home town. Heading over to our own local restaurant, my dad and I ordered up some wings with their own “medium sauce” – buffalo and bbq goodness.

Being a wing addict, it wasn’t long before I was craving buffalo sauce again. I searched for a perfect buffalo bbq recipe, but I guess the idea hasn’t really taken off yet – I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for. Ultimately, I rounded up enough information to put together my own recipe!

Buying just a package of wings at the store (I think there were about 7 included – they were just over 2 lbs), I pre-heated the oven to 450, foiled my pan (greasing it with a good 1/2 stick of butter), and seasoned my wings with Mrs. Dash, pepper (because my dad looooves pepper), and salt (because I love salt). They needed to bake for about 20 minutes on each side, so I moved on to making the sauce.

I mixed together 3/4 bottle Franks, 1/2 stick butter, 1/8 tsp. garlic powder (to eye), 1/4 cup bbq sauce (in particular, Jack Daniels), and 1/4 cup light brown sugar over medium heat and when it began to simmer added just a pinch of baking soda so the sauce foamed before settling down – finished!

When both my chicken and sauce were ready to combine, I poured all of my sauce over the wings and continued to cook, flipping the wings every 3 minutes so the sauce could fully bake into them. I cooked them about 10 more minutes on each side – or about 3 rotations.

I actually meant to marinate the chicken and grill them (like Gator’s Dockside does!) but my father (who does the grilling) was pretty busy during the week and I wanted to see how baking would turn out, since I don’t have a grill at my apartment.

The results? YUM. My dad, who loves bbq sauce, particularly enjoyed them. Seriously, if I knew we both liked them so much I’d have made twice or even three times as much.

Just. For. The. Two. Of. Us.

Honestly. They were that good. Next time, I think I’ll add about 1/2 to 3/4 as much bbq sauce. It’s just not my favorite, and I could taste it. On the other hand, my father said he could really taste the buffalo sauce. Either way, it was a win for us both. :)

Full recipe

Ingredients

• 3/4 bottle Frank’s
• 1 stick butter (1/2 for sauce, 1/2 to grease pan)
• 1/8 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 cup bbq sauce
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• pinch baking soda (less than 1/8 tsp)
• chicken wings

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 450.
2. Foil pan, lay wings out flat and season both sides to personal preference.
3. Cook for 15-20 minutes, flip, and cook another 15-20 minutes. While your wings are baking, prepare your sauce.
4. Combine Franks, butter, garlic powder, bbq sauce, and light brown sugar over medium heat.
5. When the mixture begins to simmer, add a pinch of baking soda. Sauce should foam – stir until the sauce in finished.
6. Once you’ve cooked your wings, pour the sauce over the wings and coat evenly. Continue cooking, flipping the wings every 3 minutes.
7. The wings can be done as soon as they have cooked in the sauce on each side once – keeping them in the oven longer will dry the sauce on the outside more.

If you try my recipe, you definitely have to let me know how it turns out! :)