It’s becoming increasingly hard to find things that my 18-month-old son will eat. My once-fearless eater has morphed into the picky toddler we all dread. Many a meal has ended as a pile of mush spat from his mouth onto his highchair tray.
One thing I know he loves is hot dogs, so I’ve been trying to make them in different ways to add a little variety to our routine. When I found this recipe for Mini Corn Dog Bites, I felt like I’d struck gold. These are simple to make, and you can whip up a large batch and save some for lunch later in the week.
Mini Corn Dog Bites
Source: Buns In My Oven
Ingredients:
1 c flour, divided
1/4 c cornmeal
1/4 c sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 c milk
8 hot dogs, cut into thirds
Vegetable or canola oil, for frying
Directions:
Preheat about 3 inches of oil to 350 degrees. You’ll want to do this over medium heat.
Stir together 2/3 c flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, garlic powder, and onion powder in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the milk. Set aside. If you are short on time, you could also use your favorite corn bread mix and follow the package instructions.
Now you’ll want to test the oil to make sure it’s not too hot. Drop a bit of batter into the oil to see how quickly it browns. You want to be able to cook your corn dog bites for several minutes before having to remove them from the oil. So if the batter browns too quickly, turn down the heat and wait a bit before making the corn dogs. It’s mostly trial and error.
When the oil is ready, put the remaining flour in a shallow dish or pie pan. Dredge each hot dog piece in the flour, then drop in the batter and coat. I used a fork to hold the hot dog pieces during this process. Shake off any excess batter, but make sure the whole hot dog is still coated.
Drop into the hot oil and fry until one side is brown and crispy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Rotate and fry until the entire corn dog is brown. Fry in batches and remove finished corn dogs to a plate topped with paper towels to drain the excess oil.
Serve warm.
My son really loved dipping these in ketchup. I’m a mustard fan myself.
I hope your picky toddler loves these as much as mine did!
