I came up with this recipe several years ago, mostly as a joke. You know how a recipe sort of comes together in your head? You can see it & smell it? The key to these corn dogs is the hot cast iron corn muffin pans. If you don't have these, you can substitute a regular muffin pan, they'll still taste good, but won't look the same. The corn bread recipe is inspired by the one in Gourmet Cookbook that I grew up with... Great for kids or kids at heart. They keep well in the fridge for several days and also freeze nicely. That only happens in my house if I make a double batch!
Serves 10
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup stone ground cornmeal
2 organic eggs
1 cup whole or 2% milk
3 tablespoons melted butter or bacon drippings, more to grease the pans
1/2 cup grated cheese such as cheddar
2 tablespoons minced jalapeno (optional)
14 ounces mini hot dogs
Place 4 cast iron corn muffin pans into a cold oven. Heat the oven to 400 degrees for at least 30 minutes. Sift the dry ingredients together into a large bowl. Stir in the grated cheese & minced jalapeno.
Whisk together the milk & eggs. Pour over the flour mixture. Gently stir together with the melted butter. Be careful to stir only to combine. Do not over mix! Take one pan out of the oven. Next you'll have to grease the corn pan. I find the best way to do this is to take the rest of your stick of butter and run it along the inside of the corn forms. The butter will bubble up immediately, very cool.
Spoon in about 2 tbsp batter into each corn section. Gently press 2 mini hot dogs into each section. Place pan back in the oven. Repeat with the remaining 3 pans.
Bake the corn dogs for approx 20 minutes until nicely browned. Remove from the oven and let cool for a couple of minutes. Gently remove each corn dog with a couple of small forks. Place onto a baker's rack. Serve with mustard if you wish.
