Have you subscribed to our weekly newsletter?! If not we're sobbing. Click here to make us stop.

Y'ALL. This is Matt, and I just want to start out by thanking you from the deepest reaches of my lukewarm heart for making this post possible. Here's the thing: this is the absolute best thing Beau makes. He first started making this back when we were in college living in a very dingy apartment and, I don't know, something about the soul-crushing boredom of home life inspired an *actual* stroke of genius and Beau just thought to mix maple syrup and Crystal hot sauce with a bit of butter. And we happened to have some chicken. And then it was an immediate house favorite.

But do you wanna know how long it's been since he made this for dinner? Go ahead guess. Like how long do you think he'd be capable of fighting off weekly requests, knowing all the while that I'm agonizing in want of this perfect delicacy? It couldn't be that long right?

Well, its been two years. Two. Damn. Years.

I tried using flattery, I tried crying and begging--none of that worked. So I played my ace of spades. It basically went like:

BEAU: Any ideas for dinner this week?

MATT: Maple Crystal chicken? [my answer whenever he asks]

BEAU: No, something new.

MATT: But what if... we made a post about it?

BEAU: *finally caught with no escape*

So thank you, thank you, thank every single one of you who's reading this. Sleep soundly tonight knowing you're the sole reason I have any joy today. I wish I could say I saved any of these wings to share, but are you fucking kidding me? Def ate all of them already BYE. Just kidding, love you guys, there's a recipe below to bring this kinda joy into your own home!

Maple Hot Sauce Wings

serves 2 as a meal or 4 as a snack + takes 35 minutes (excluding marinate time) + costs about $15

You’ll Need:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup maple syrup (use the good stuff!)
3/4 cup hot sauce (we highly recommend Crystal brand, which is pretty mild)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2-3 lbs chicken wings (or drumettes)
Green onion, sesame seeds, and celery for garnish

Tools:

Baking sheet with a lip***
Aluminum foil
Tongs (a fork would do)
Whisk (honestly a fork would do here too)
Large mixing bowl

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the butter, syrup, hot sauce, and minced garlic. Pour half of this mixture into a separate bowl or zip-top bag and place in the fridge for later.
Add the chicken to the bowl with the marinade, and toss to evenly coat the wings. Seal with plastic wrap (alternatively, transfer the wings to a large zip-top bag) and refrigerate for 30 mins to overnight. The longer it marinates the better the flavor!
Once you’re ready to make the wings, remove them from the fridge and set aside to come down a bit to room temperature.
Bring the reserved sauce to a simmer in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Simmer until thick and syrupy, about 7 minutes, watching closely that it doesn’t burn, stirring often. Once it has reduced by about half, transfer to a heat-proof mixing bowl large enough to fit all of your chicken. Set aside.
Place your oven rack in the upper-middle part of your oven (we go about three from the top) and turn the broiler to high.
Line your baking sheet with aluminum foil and place the wings evenly with the skin side down, making sure to leave a little space between each wing (you can do these in batches if you don’t have a big enough baking sheet).
Broil for 6-8 minutes, and then remove pan from oven, use tongs to flip each wing, and broil for another 5 minutes. All broilers vary, sometimes greatly. So use your eyes over your timer to tell doneness! We want the wings to begin to brown a bit before you do the first flip, and then you want to broil them just until they are golden brown with crispy skin before removing from the oven. Check the meatiest wing for doneness in the center (no pink!) before removing the pan entirely.
Remove from the oven, toss in the sauce, and top with green onion, sesame seeds, and celery, if desired.

Enjoy!

Notes

Make sure you use a baking sheet with a slight lip so that no oil from the chicken runs off in the oven (this can cause a big ol fire!!!).
We’re using aluminum foil here because our broiler is also the gate to hell and if we put parchment paper in there it gets awfully close to burning.

Want More of Our Week Night Faves?

Maple + Crystal Hot Sauce Baked Chicken Wings

Maple Hot Sauce Wings