Triple pop pumpkin spice chicken wings
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We’re kicking off the half term with a Halloween treat, Triple Pop Pumpkin Spice Chicken Wings.

Recipe by @artustbbq 

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YIELDS 1kg/2.2lbs of wings
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PREP TIME 30 mins
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COOK TIME 30-40 mins
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TOTAL TIME 1-1hr 10mins

Stick with me on this, they are good. Very good. This isn't a super sweet pumped up version of Pumpkin spice that you may find in a coffee shop latte or a limited edition confectionary. This uses all the lovely warm autumnal flavours to create a spicy savoury flavour for these crispy wings. Hopefully you'll give this one a go and enjoy over the cooler and darker Autumn months and beyond.

So why triple pop? Well, in line with the Halloween and Bonfire night theme, we have given these three chances to soak up that pumpkin spice flavour so it really 'pops'.

Let's start with the most important part, making the pumpkin spice. In some shops you may be able to pick this up as a seasonal product, but please check the label and ensure it's a version with no sugar. If you want to make it up yourself, the ingredients are listed below and any good pantry will have most, if not all, of what you need.

Pumpkin Spice - Ingredients:

  • 4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Method:

  1. Add all the ingredients to a bowl and mix with a spoon until fully blended.

  2.  Now, cloves are the strongest part of this, so adjust it down as necessary and remember, this is just a guide so you can add more or less of each spice according to taste. This will yield you enough to make the wings, and some leftover for a pumpkin pie or to add to an apple pie or crumble.

Pumpkin Spice - Ingredients:

  • 4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Method:

If the wings are 2 or 3 joints you can break down into drums and flats or keep whole, whichever is your preference.

  1. Stir 2x teaspoons of the pumpkin spice mix into the buttermilk.

  2. Add the wings into a large bowl and fully cover with the buttermilk, making sure they're fully coated and then cover and back into the fridge. Ideally, you'd leave the wings overnight, but 4 hours minimum. You can also add anything else like hot sauce, cayenne etc to the buttermilk if you want to pimp it up but I didnt.

  3. Time to light the BBQ. Load up with BigK charcoal and get the fire started. You are looking for a temp of around 175c-205c and can run these indirect with the deflector plates in if your BBQ has them and the grills set on the top shelf. BBQ should take around 20-30 minutes to get to temperature.

  4. Whilst the BBQ is heating up you can prep the wings. Remove them from the fridge and take out of the buttermilk and place each wing on a cooling rack to let the excess buttermilk drain off, just remember to put something underneath to catch those messy drips to go in the bin.

  5. While the wings are dripping you can get your flour dredge ready. This one is easy, add 1 teaspoon of the pumpkin spice mix to the flour and stir until combined. Make sure as much of the buttermilk has come off the wings as possible and add each wing into the flour dredge, remove and knock off any excess and put to one side on a clean plate.

  6. If the BBQ is up to temp then it's time to cook. Make sure your grates are clean and spray or brush on some oil to prevent the wings sticking and get them on the grill. They should only take 30-40 minutes to cook, the important thing here is to get that coating nice and crispy but not burnt. Slow and steady wins the race. Keep turning them and move them around the grill as necessary.

  7. While they are cooking, it's time to hit the last chapter in this pumpkin spice trilogy, the sauce. Pop number 3. Now as a family we absolutely love buffalo sauce because of the tang and mild heat, and it works perfectly with the pumpkin spice flavours, but feel free to use a BBQ sauce if that is your preference.  We took half a small bottle of off the shelf supermarket buffalo sauce and added 2 teaspoons of the pumpkin spice and stirred well.

  8. When the wings are all cooked, either coat with sauce and use your best toss to cover them, or pile the wings on plate and drizzle the sauce over.