I live next door to this small (slightly scary) wings joint in Chicago. For months I’ve walked by on my way home and have been hit with the smell of delicious fried chicken wings.

This prompted a strong craving for wings that I decided to submit to last night for supper. Instead of paying for some fatty (albeit delicious) wings from House of Wing, I opted to bake my own at home.

I started by creating a BBQ sauce from scratch with items most people have in their fridge:

– 3/4 cup ketchup

– 3/4 cup honey

– 1/2 cup soy sauce

– 2 TBSP of hot sauce

– 3 minced garlic cloves

I threw everything into a sauce pan and cooked it on high until boiling.

  
Then I reduced the heat and let it simmer for another 3-4 minutes until the sauce was thick. With about 3-5 lbs of chicken wings and drumsticks chicken waiting in the a baking dish, I poured the sauce over the meat making sure it was all covered. Last, I seasoned the chicken with some cracked pepper you don’t need salt, there’s enough in the soy sauce).

I baked the chicken  for one hour at 375 degrees and this is what I got:

Holy cow- these wings were so delicious! WAY better than those small, fried wings you’d get at a bar. The sauce was tangy, sweet and sticky the way sauce should be. Check out my messy hands for proof-

These were so good, that we ditched the side dish I was making (baked sweet potatoes) and made the wings our entire meal. Of course, we DID leave some room for dessert.

I whipped up some quick chocolate covered pretzels, which I gave a healthy upgrade by using whole wheat pretzel rods, dark chocolate and some nuts. These took me about 10 minutes to make one batch, which will last throughout the week.

All you need is two dark chocolate bars (8 oz total), a bag of whole wheat pretzel sticks and a package of nut topping (in the baking aisle).

I melted the chocolate by placing a metal bowl over one inch of boiling water.

I poured the melted chocolate into a short cup, spread the nut topping onto a small plate and placed the pretzels on a baking sheet. Then I started to dip the pretzels in the chocolate and roll them in the nut topping.

I let the chocolate dry and was finished! You can also roll the preztels in any topping you like- smashed peppermint, coconut, colored sugar- whatever suits your fancy.

Let me know what you guys think of the wings if you try them. I think they’re being added to my top 10 favorite recipes.

Happy Monday!