BUT WAIT! Before you dismiss them, writing them off as not worthy of your time in anything other than a fried state, let me say this: they were better than 75% of the wings I've had around town (Chicago, fyi), and WAY EASY.
Here's the recipe*:
10 chicken wings, separated @ the joint (Most grocery stores will sell these already done, or you can get wings and use a knife or kitchen shears to DIY. Think: empowering!)
6T butter (I used salted sweet cream butter, but unsalted is fine.)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1t salt
1/2c. hot sauce (make sure you pick a fiery one if you want a lot of heat OR add 2t/as desired red chili powder)
(I know, not SUPER healthy, but: BAKED, not FRIED!)
In a large pot w/ a steamer basket, fill w/ 1" of water. Bring to a boil, then turn to med-high heat, add wings to steamer basket, and steam wings for 10', covered.
Line a baking sheet w/ paper towels. Place metal cooling rack over the top.
Lay wings out on cooling rack and pat dry w/ paper towels.
Refrigerate 1h.
Preheat oven to 425F.
Replace paper towels lining baking sheet w/ parchment paper. (This is good to soak up the chicken juices as they bake off, though not absolutely necessary.)
Roast wings 20'.
Flip wings over, roast another 20' (until skin is dried, more golden).
While wings are roasting, in a small saucepan melt butter, garlic, and salt.
Remove from heat, stir in hot sauce.
When wings are finished, pour into bowl along w/ sauce. Toss to coat.
Serve warm with ranch and/or bleu cheese sauce, celery sticks, etc.
Lastly: go ahead, lick the bowl. The sauce is that good.
*Thank you, Alton Brown.