After all the cooking that comes with Thanksgiving, I need a break! I swear, cooking is just as tiring as working out and after making a big meal for all my extended family, I just want to give up cooking forever and sit myself down for a marathon of Netflix and pajama-wearing.
My body goes into a cooking coma and just the thought of making extensive meals make me tired! Not a good feeling for a food blogger, right?
Luckily, there are recipes like these Baked Corn Dog Muffins that are not only ridiculously easy, but also delicious and let’s me satisfy my corn dog cravings in a healthier way!
Corn dogs are a big comfort food for me. Especially those greasy, deep-fried ones from local fairs. Can I get an amen for how tasty those things are? Unfortunately, fairs only come along every once in a while and all that saturated fat does not make my body happy.
I think the last one I went to was about a year and a half ago, but man, you better believe I ate my little corndog-heart out. So anyways, I’ve been going through a muffin phase the last few months and after pouring over my neurobiology textbook for a few hours, it hit me. BOOM. Baked corn dogs.
In a muffin tin. The epitome of delicious and cuteness, since we all know that mini-food trumps its larger counterpart by a long mile!
These couldn’t be any simpler to make and they make the perfect snack, especially if you have little kids who are picky eaters. They’re just the right size for small hands (and if you’re an adult, your hand are perfect for grabbing 5 and shoving them in your mouth) and are a no-mess way to carry food on the go!
I would have packed these away for lunch if they hadn’t all been eaten within a few minutes of me pulling them out of the oven!
To make them, simply gather up a mixing bowl and muffin tin and get to adding ingredients! One of my favorite things about this recipe is how it’s made with minimal ingredients and just one bowl, saving you cleaning time and the time spent groping in your pantry looking for obscure ingredients.
Just add in the dry ingredients, give the mixture a stir, then start cracking in the egg and adding in the milk. A quick couple of turns with a mixing spoon and your corn bread base is ready to go! Now, just grease up that muffin tin, fill it 2/3 of the way full, and poke your hot dogs into the center of the batter.
The cornbread will bake around the hotdog, warming is up and adding that perfectly sweet undertone that helps make corn dogs so darn delicious! As well as being easy, this baked corndog recipe is lightened up.
By baking, rather than frying them, you reduce the amount of fat and calories in each corndog muffin, which totally justifies you eating twice as many, right ;)? That’s how my mind works!
While I wouldn’t deviate from the base recipe all that much, there are some variations you can do to adjust the recipe to your taste/dietary preferences! I love adding some sweet corn into the batter for some extra texture and flavor and vegetarians can use veggie dogs in place of turkey/pork.
These can be made in mini-muffin tins as well, as long as you adjust the size of the hot dog pieces and baking time!
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1 cup flour
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- big pinch salt
- ½ stick butter, melted
- 1 cup nonfat milk
- 1 egg
- 4 hot dogs, cut into thirds
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl, cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- Stir in the butter, milk, and egg, Whisk to combine.
- Fill a muffin tin ⅔ of the way full and add a hot dog section into the center of each.
- Bake for 16-18 minutes or until the tops are slightly firm to the touch. Enjoy!