When it comes to spicy food I am no stranger. Some of my favorite dishes are equipped with enough spice to really numb your mouth, literally.

That’s why I had to try these chicken wings. The recipe I used was loosely based off The Black Peppercorn food blog. Of course, I added my own spin and mixed and matched as I tend to do.

Whenever I don’t follow a recipe word for word, there’s always the risk that the meal turns out to be a dud, or worse, a disaster. However I’m pleased to report these wings turned out absolutely wonderful.

Here’s how I made them.

While the Black Peppercorn has a recipe for “Strawberry Jalapeno” chicken wings and another for “Apricot Habanero” chicken wings, I switched it up to Strawberry Habanero. I wish I could say this was because I am a creative genius, but the truth is I remembered the recipe wrong. Nevertheless, they turned out great.

Ingredients you’ll need:

• Chicken wings
• 1 jar of strawberry jam (11-14 oz)
• Habaneros (I used 4, disposed of most of the seeds but left a few behind). Adjust amount of peppers to your spice preference
• Juice of 1 lime

I cut up the peppers and combined them with the jam and lime juice. In a bowl, I mixed it all together, evenly coating the chicken wings. Being hungry and impatient, I only marinated them for about 20 minutes, but you can marinate them 1-2 hours in the refrigerator.

After they rested in the mixture for a bit, I lined a baking sheet with foil and placed the wings in the oven. 30 minutes on each side and, BAM. Delicious strawberry habanero chicken wings.

For me, this recipe is really a great balance of sweet and heat.