Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and an oven-safe wire rack. You can spray your wire rack with cooking spray to prevent sticking.
In a large bowl, add the thawed chicken wing drumettes and cornstarch. Toss to completely coat the chicken pieces with the cornstarch.
Arrange the chicken wing pieces on the prepared baking sheet, making sure to leave space between each piece so the hot air can circulate around. This helps get even heating and crispy skin.
Bake the chicken for 20 minutes without any lemon pepper sauce.
While your chicken is baking, you can make your lemon pepper sauce in a small saucepan, over low heat, by adding the unsalted butter, olive oil, fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, lemon pepper spice blend, salt, and garlic powder. Simmer on low heat just until the butter has melted and the spices have infused into the butter and oil. Turn off the heat to the saucepan.
After the chicken wings have baked for the first 20 minutes, remove the baking sheet from the oven and baste each chicken wing drumette with the lemon pepper sauce. Return the chicken wings to the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
Once the chicken wings have baked for 10 minutes, then you will remove the baking sheet from the oven, carefully flip the chicken wing drumettes over, and baste the other side of the chicken. Return the chicken wings back to the oven to bake for another 10 minutes or until the wings reach 165°F, and the juices run clear.
Once your chicken wings are baked through, you can broil them for 1-2 minutes on each side to get the skin golden and crispy. After they have been broiled to a beautiful golden brown, you will want to give them one last coat of lemon pepper sauce before serving them.
Notes
Yields: 10-18 wings (This will differ greatly between brands)Storage:
To Store: Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.
To Freeze: You can freeze the cooked wings in a freezer safe container for up to 1 month.
To Reheat: Allow the wings to thaw overnight before reheating in the oven or air fryer to re-crisp the wings.
Tips:
For the crispiest possible wings, pat your chicken completely dry with paper towels before coating.
You can easily double, or triple, this recipe. You will need to increase the amount of lemon pepper sauce accordingly and you will need to use a second prepared rimmed baking sheet so that you do not crowd your chicken wings when baking.
Taste your lemon pepper seasoning blend to know if it is good with the amount of salt that it will add to this recipe. You may find, depending on the brand you use, that different brands are saltier than others. You may want to add more, or less, salt or lemon pepper seasoning to your butter and oil. You will just need to adjust according to taste.
These lemon pepper chicken wings are best served hot and fresh from the oven.
You can garnish your wings with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a couple grinds of fresh black pepper.