Corn Dog Poppers

As long as we're veering off the gourmet, upscale foods route I'll include another Pinterest recipe I made awhile back.

Who didn't love a good ole' corn dog slathered with mustard when they were kids? Well me, for one! I couldn't stomach anything to do with a hot dog throughout most of my childhood. Even now I have rules that govern whether I'm going to actually enjoy eating this great American food. First and foremost, they're always best when eaten on the beach after being toasted to a pretty blackened state over a roaring bonfire. Next, the bun has to be big enough to leave room for plenty of catsup, mustard and DICED ONIONS! And, as long as we're talking about the bun - everyone knows those should be in that steamed warm and covered in tin foil form.

And by the way, I'm excluding West Virginia chili-slaw dogs from this narrative entirely because they are a completely separate food item. One to be lusted after and immediately hunted down the minute you cross the state border into Almost Heaven. I learned that love from my mother who would literally race her car to the nearest folksy hot dog stand close to St. Albans so she could order (at least) two of those babies. It makes my mouth water to even think about eating one. The last time I was in West Virginia it was fall and my cousins hosted a big ole' bonfire one night, complete with s'mores and chili slaw dogs. Do you think a little bit of rain stopped me from huddling by the fire wolfing down those dogs as fast as I could prepare them???? Not hardly.

Have I digressed a bit? Back to corndogs...or, in this case, little bitty corn muffins stuffed with a piece of Hebrew National hot dog poking it's head above the corn meal. These are easy to make and the folks in my small group seemed to like slathering a bit of mustard or catsup in them and eating them by the handful. They might also make a pretty fine Super Bowl snack. Just sayin'.

Corn Dog Poppers

Ingredients:
1/2 cup melted butter (or 1/4 cup butter + 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce)
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
8-10 all-beef hot dogs, cut into 1″ bites

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine butter and sugar in a bowl, and whisk to combine. Add eggs and whisk to incorporate. Add buttermilk and whisk to incorporate.
In a separate bowl, combine baking soda, cornmeal, flour, and salt, and stir to combine. Whisk into wet ingredients in two batches.
Spray a mini muffin tin with non-stick spray, and spoon 1 Tablespoon of batter into each mini muffin cup. Place one hot dog bite into the middle of each cup.

Bake for 8-12 minutes (oven temperatures vary), or until cornbread is golden brown. Cool in mini muffin tin for 5 minutes before serving. Store leftovers in the refrigerator, and re-heat for 20-30 seconds before serving.

                                                  (Chili-slaw dog and West Virginia style green beans - now that's what I'm talkin' bout!)