HONEY BBQ WING SAUCE
makes 420 g · total 15m · tested

A sweet, kid-forward, no-heat honey BBQ sauce designed specifically to
coat and cling to breaded boneless wings. The yield is enough for two
full batches of wings with extra left over for dipping.

INGREDIENTS
  -- Sauce Base --
      200 g   ketchup
      100 g   honey
       40 g   dark brown sugar
       25 g   apple cider vinegar
       25 g   unsalted butter (cold, cubed)
       15 g   Worcestershire sauce
       10 g   molasses (not blackstrap)
        4 g   smoked paprika
        3 g   garlic powder
        3 g   onion powder
        1 g   black pepper (fine ground)

STEPS
  Cook the Base
    1. In a small saucepan, whisk together the ketchup, honey, dark
       brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, molasses,
       smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and black pepper
       until fully uniform with no dry spice streaks.
    2. Bring to a bare simmer over medium-low heat, then hold it there,
       stirring every couple of minutes so the sugars don't catch on the
       bottom. You're cooking out the raw ketchup edge and reducing to a
       cling-thick consistency — it should coat a spoon and hold a line
       when you drag a finger through it.
  Mount the Butter
    1. Kill the heat. Whisk in the cold, cubed butter a cube at a time
       until fully emulsified. The sauce should turn glossy and slightly
       lighter in color. Do not let it return to a boil after this or
       the emulsion can break.
    2. Taste on a spoon. It should read sweet first, then smoke and
       tang. Do NOT add salt yet — the ketchup and Worcestershire carry
       ~1% already, and the breaded wings bring their own seasoning. If
       it needs anything, it's usually 5–10 g more vinegar for
       brightness, not salt.
  The Spin
    1. Bake or air-fry your boneless wings per package directions, but
       push them 2–3 minutes past minimum — you want the breading
       aggressively crisp, because the sauce will soften it slightly no
       matter what. Do not sauce in advance.
    2. Warm the sauce gently (warm, not boiling). Transfer the hot wings
       to a large bowl, pour over 150–180 g of sauce per ~700 g of
       wings, and toss/spin immediately.
    3. Serve right away — breaded wings have a ~10 minute window before
       the crust surrenders.

EQUIPMENT
  Small saucepan, whisk, large tossing bowl. (Optional: Vitamix if you
  like it even smoother — blitz for 20 seconds before the butter mount).

FOOD SAFETY
  Store in a sealed jar in the refrigerator.

STORAGE
  Stores refrigerated 3–4 weeks; the vinegar and sugar keep it stable.
  Reheat gently before tossing.

LICENSE
  CC BY 4.0: share and adapt freely, credit longproof and link to
  https://longproof.duckdns.org/recipes/honey-bbq-wing-sauce.txt
  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/