Chipotle Glazed Chicken Wings

I have a love hate relationship with diet coke.

When I say I have a love relationship with diet coke, I mean it is that can't stop, won't stop, gotta have it, kind of love. If diet coke is a bird, I'm a bird. Maybe 20 years ago, when Pepsi was traveling the country having people do a taste test of coke vs. Pepsi, I picked coke, even though I was trying to pick Pepsi because I'm a people pleaser.  When I say I have a hate relationship with diet coke, I mean I hate when people tell me that fake sugar is bad for me, and that I'm going to get cancer, and aspartame is eventually going to be my cause of death. Before everyone jumps on the anti aspartame band wagon I will state that I haven't purchased a pack of diet coke in probably 5 years. That's because I've moved out of my parents house and I've become too lazy to buy packs of drinks that are heavy. I also live ten minutes away from my parents and can help myself to an endless supply of carbonated crack whenever need be.

I love wings, America loves wings, and I'm sure the rest of the world would if they wanted to adapt to our Super Bowl traditions. I seriously love making wings and have posted recipes for my original hot wings and my asian sticky wings. I think making them in the air fryer is truly the best option, but if you are making a large portion (aka you found them on sale) it's tough to do the air fryer since you can only do small batches at a time. I wanted to do something different this time and I happened to have some leftover chipotle chili peppers in adobo sauce. What better option than to make some fiery chipotle wings. I had always heard that coca cola is a great option for sauces whether you making something simple like wings or pulled pork. Now I know that I just declared my undying love for diet coke above but sadly for us twenty something gals, you have to use the real stuff. That's right sugary coca cola. I think I have had a sip of real coca cola once and it was when I fainted in the doctors office. In all honesty, you need the real sugar to not only balance the spiciness of the chipotle, but you also need it to caramelize and thicken the glaze. 

Ingredients:
4 lbs chicken wings
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp cumin
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1/2 ground pepper
1 cup coca cola
4 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (pureed) 
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
fresh cilantro (optional for garnish)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Pat wings dry with paper towel. In a medium bowl mix together garlic powder, onion powder, salt, cumin, smoked paprika, and pepper. Place wings in a large bowl and toss with the dry ingredients. Line a baking sheet with foil or a silicone mat and place a wire wrack over the baking sheet. Place wings on wrack and bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and flip wings with tongs. Continue to bake for another 15 minutes. While wings are baking heat coca cola, brown sugar, chipotles, soy sauce, and balsamic vinegar in a sauce pan over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until mixture is reduced in half, about 20 minutes. Stir in ketchup to thicken sauce. When the chicken is cooked toss wings in a bowl with glaze. Serve with fresh cilantro.