Hot Honey Cornbread Wings
Crispy air fried wings tossed in a sticky hot honey glaze and topped with buttery toasted crumbled cornbread. These wings are everything you could want in a wing! Crispy and sticky, with a little heat and so much flavor! The cornbread breadcrumbs cling to that sticky honey sauce to create an explosion of textures and flavors in every bite!
The inspiration for this recipe
Hot honey and cornbread go so well together. Hot honey and wings also go so well together. Cornbread on the side of a stack of wings also goes really well together. I thought that all these flavors could combine in a beautiful way.
Make the wings
I have been doing my wings in the air fryer lately and they come out fantastic. You have to dry them out in the fridge overnight first, then lightly dust them in flour and cornstarch. They come out so good!
Make the cornbread breadcrumbs
Melt some butter in a frying pan and add the cornbread. Break it up and toast the crumbs until they are golden and delicious.
Then add some more flavor – Black pepper, lemon pepper, and scallions.
Make the hot honey wing sauce
Butter, hot sauce, cider vinegar, Worcestershire, and lots of hot honey! I also added some garlic powder and gochugaru flakes to this. You could use any chili flakes but I really like the way gochugaru looks in a recipe like this.
Finish the hot honey cornbread wings
Toss the wings in the sauce, and then cook them a few more minutes to help the hot honey sauce really cling to the wings, then sprinkle the cornbread on top!
Serve the hot honey cornbread wings
These didn’t need a sauce or anything in my opinion, but you could always do some blue cheese or ranch if you wanted. The flavors and textures were insane though! The crispy buttery cornbread breadcrumbs really enhanced everything that was happening in the wings.
Sticky, sweet, spicy, savory, and so delicious!
Twists and tips on this recipe
You could always deep fry the wings, or do them however you normally cook wings. I have been having a lot of success with this method so that is what I have been doing.
I just made cornbread from a box mix for this. You can make your own if you would rather. Use a family recipe, or this one!
for more fun wing recipes, check out my negroni wings, this blue cheese risotto, or these tasty pickle flavored wings!
Also check out my link to get 10% off Mikes Hot Honey.
Hot Honey Cornbread Wings
Equipment
- air fryer
Ingredients
Wings – the day before
- 20 wing segments patted dry
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Wings – Day of
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon pepper seasoning
- pinch salt
- High heat cooking spray
Wing sauce
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce
- 1 teaspoon worcestershire
- 1/2 cup hot honey
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon gochugaru chili flakes
Cornbread topping
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 pieces cornbread
- 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning
- 3 scallions minced
Instructions
- Pat the wings dry, then add them to a bowl and sprinkle on the salt and baking powder. Toss to evenly coat. Spread them on a wire rack, and place them in the fridge, uncovered, for at least 12 hours.
- Put the cornstarch, flour, sugar, lemon pepper, and salt in a bowl and stir to combine. One by one, add a wing and toss to coat in the flour, then shake it so that there is only a very thin dusting on the wing. Repeat with all the wings.
- Preheat air fryer to 400 and add the wings so that the bulk of the skin is facing up.
- Fry the wings for 6 minutes, then flip, 6 more minutes, and finally one more flip and 6 more minutes.
- While the wings are frying, make the sauce by mixing all the sauce ingredients in a measuring cup or small bowl. Microwave it for 30 seconds to melt the butter and mix really well to combine.
- Melt the butter in a frying pan, and add in the cornbread. Smash it up to form the breadcrumbs, and toss in the butter until crispy. Stir in the pepper, lemon pepper, and scallions and cook another 2 minutes, tossing often. Remove from heat
- When the wings are ready, add in the sauce to the air fryer and toss to coat. Cook them another 2 minutes, toss again, and 2 more minutes.
- Serve the wings on a platter and drizzle the excess sauce on top. Sprinkle on the cornbread and eat.