Homemade Corn Dogs and Corn Dog Muffins
ByA few weeks ago, Josette asked if anyone had a healthier, homemade corn dog recipe. Yippee! A recipe challenge. I love me a recipe challenge.
And – all my healthy eating talk aside – I love me a good hot dog. Oh, how I wish I didn’t. The icky ones that are made from 14 different kinds of animal leftovers? I don’t love me that kind of hot dog. A big juicy beef hot dog? I could eat three. (Not that I do of course…)
I’ve found some hot dogs from Azure Standard made by Shelton that are pretty good. They are made with chicken, don’t have any preservatives, etc. If you have access to those, give them a try. We like them just fine.
And – hot dog on a stick with yummy cornbread fried all around it? Hello. I am my kids’ favorite mom on days I make these.
Homemade Healthier Corn Dogs
10 hot dogs
1 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup cornmeal
2 T. honey
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. dry mustard
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
2 T. oil
Oil for frying (I use Palm Shortening)
10 lollipop sticks
Whisk together all ingredients (okay, except for the hot dogs of course…and the oil for frying…and the lollipop sticks).
Place one hot dog on each stick. (I find lollipop sticks in the cake decorating section at Walmart.)
For frying the corn dogs…you can immerse them in hot oil if you have a Fry Daddy or something similar. I don’t have one, plus I’d rather not use that much oil. Here’s what I do:
Heat a small amount of oil in your electric skillet. Holding onto the stick “roll” the hot dog around in the cornmeal batter to coat. Place the corn dog down onto the hot oil. Allow the corn dog to cook quite well on one side before attempting to turn it so that the batter won’t pull off. Turn as necessary to cook on all sides.
My corndogs don’t turn out very lovely. They’re sort of triangular in shape. Ah, but they taste delicious!
NOW.
Wait until you hear THIS idea. When Jennifer heard that I was going to conduct a corn dog experiment…she gave me this idea!!! Thanks Jennifer!
These Corn Dog Muffins are a perfect way to avoid the mess of frying your corn dogs and finding lollipop sticks, etc. I LOVE this!
Corn Dog Muffins
This recipe for cornbread, doubled
8 hot dogs
24 muffin papers to line muffin pans.
Mix up the cornbread. Cut hot dogs into thirds. Scoop cornbread batter into the paper lined muffin cups. Place 1/3 hot dog into each muffin.
Bake at 400 ° until golden brown. Serve right away.
Look! You can’t even tell there’s a hot dog in those muffins! You could surprise your kids with these! They’ll think they are only having a cornbread muffin for lunch. Then tada! There’s a hot dog inside!
The best thing about these Corn Dog Muffins is that they freeze well!!! Just thaw and reheat in the oven for a few minutes before serving!
How’s that for an easy lunch idea that you can make ahead of time?!
(Click on our Make Ahead Meals link for more fun ideas of kid friendly, healthy recipes that you can make ahead of time.)
What fun ideas! I’m gunna try the muffins and also freeze some for later! How wonderful! Thanks.
I’m so happy to have found your site.
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How fun! I am glad that you got to try it! :) Thanks for the freezing tip. I am thinking it could be a fun meal for when we go camping in a few weeks. It would be great to take a bunch of frozen muffins to reheat later.
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Neat idea! Thanks!
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I was thinking of ordering some of those Shelton’s turkey franks this summer for quick BBQ meals. I discovered that they’re gluten-free, and Azure has them on sale for June/July! :) I love the idea of the muffins; I may try that with my gluten-free cornbread batter. Thanks!
Blessings,
Michele :)
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What a great idea! I’m going to make up a batch this week and freeze some up. I have a newborn and this would be a quick and easy meal for the other 3 kids!
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I love the muffin idea! I get nervous “frying” in oil….! Thanks!
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These look so yummy and fun! I made your frozen pizza pockets the other day and they are brillant!! My family and I had the best time eating them and thinking up all the yummy fillings we could put in them.
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I always do the same thing as the corndog muffins. Except I chop my hot dogs it little pieces and stir them in the batter. That way there are hotdogs in every bite instead of one hot dog in the center with all this extra batter around.
Love it!
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So…. very…. COOL!
I bet my kids will LOVE this =-)!
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Amazing idea! I’ll try it on the kids, but won’t tell them there’s a surprise inside! They’ll love it.
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AH, we love the John Morell Naturals… YUM!
anyways.. with the corn muffin idea…
we like to do it in MINI muffin cups… cut the hotdog into 8 parts… and push them into the mini muffin cups… after you put in 1 T. mix… bake! YUM!!! pop them into your mouth!!!!!
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Oooh, those muffins are a *fabulous* idea!
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Those are great recipes and tips! Thanks!
~Liz
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I do the corndogs in the muffin, but have found it is better to dice the hot dog into small pieces and mix within the batter. This ensures that you have a hot dog piece with every bite. Placing a hot dog in the middle often causes you to have more muffin than meat. This doesn’t work well when one has a husband who loves his meat!
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Great idea! This would be great for a cookout or a birthday party. Thanks.
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Ok… so I THOUGHT I was done with my helpful summer menu plan. I thought I was. But now, you have wanting to replace some of our lunches with corndog muffins… and you have me searching for other easy freeze ahead and reheat later lunch ideas. It just sounds so terrific!! Thanks for posting. I only hope I can figure this out and be DONE with this menu soon…
BTW, your homemade cheese cracker recipe is simply my favorite homemade recipe. My kids love them, it’s cheaper and healthier than buying crackers, and they’re so easy to make. Thank you!
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Another quick and easy idea for home made healthy corn dogs: Use one of those canoe shaped baking pans (you know, the ones that make twinkies hehe), pour some batter in, place a trimmed hot dog (if the whole hot dog doesn’t fit- I think some will and some won’t), and fill with more batter. Bake and you have a healthy corn dog that also freezes well for a quick lunch!
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oh- and a bonus of having that canoe baking pan, you can make homemade healthy twinkies for the kiddos! Now those are always a huge hit! :)
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I do the same thing I fry them in my skillet (the corndogs) sideways to preserve my precious oil!
I have found also to dust the hotdogs with flour does help the batter stick better.
I have tried so many of your recipes and they all come out delicious and our filed away in my cookbook. Thanks!!
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What a fabulous idea!! I can’t wait to try it, I know my family will love them.
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My kids will love this idea, and dicing the hotdog helps eliminate the chokey factor while spreading it throughout the muffin. Great idea, way cheaper than the ones they had while out last night.
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Hi-
Do you let the hotdogs from Azure thaw out before using?? I thought they were supposed to stay frozen?
God bless,
Cynthia
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OMG, I love those corndog muffins idea. How cute are those?
Thanks for the great idea :)
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I made corndogs this week too! I’m loving the muffin idea, I need to give it a try.
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I will definately be making these soon-they’ll be a great treat! Thank you.
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will try the muffins….thanks for sharing.
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I’ve made homemade corn dogs before. They are yummy but leave the house smelling like a grease-pit. Not the charming,homey smell that I’m going for. haha
Thanks for the corn dog muffin idea. I have a batch in the oven now. My corn dog loving husband is going to love them! I think they’ll be great for quick lunches!
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Oh my goodness, that corn dog muffin idea is genius! Those will be perfect in DD’s school lunch.
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Wow – now there’s a nifty idea I’ll have to try!
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I’ve never been a corndog fan but this might convert me — I love corn bread muffins and hot dogs!
Just wanted to mention that Applegate Farms has a Grassfed Beef Organic Hotdog — mmmm, mmmm, good!
Also, I was wondering – where can I get some cornmeal that isn’t GMO??
Thanks~
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Heather T. Reply:
April 28th, 2010 at 11:29 pm
Elaine, I think you can find organic cornmeal in the bulk bins at Fred Meyer’s. I get mind from a local grocery chain, but I assume that any organic cornmeal is GMO-free. At least I hope so. :-)
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Oh Awesome. I have lollipop sticks. And I have hotdogs. And I’ve got some Bob’s Red Mill Cornbread mix. We’re having this for dinner tonight :) Thanks so much.
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I’m making these tonight, btw!
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I added in a little more honey, and used 1/2 white flour and 1/2 wheat flour. I think next time I’ll add in something else to make the muffins a little more sweeter, they’re a little bland this way (I tried one). I also diced the hotdogs and added in 10 instead of 8. We’re going to have them tonight for a picnic at the park…here’s hoping the kids like them!
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Another one I can’t wait to try…those muffins look great!
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What a perfect thing for school lunches!!! I’m so glad you posted this!
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My husband has been making kolaches with canned biscuit dough and little smokies. He loves cornbread so the next experiment will be cornbread with little smokies inside. (I like the ones with cheese.) Maybe a few diced jalapenos in the corn bread would fit the bill for the Friday kolache club. :)
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I made the corn dogs (chicken dogs) on a stick today using bamboo skewers cut in half because I didn’t have lollipop sticks. My children and I gobbled them up!
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I made these again today because my husband asked for them. I did not measure the ingredients and the cornbread mixture was too thick and heavy and they were much harder to cook. I tried adding more milk but that didn’t seem to help. I’m not sure what I did wrong. So much for shortcuts!
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Love this recipe. I have to doctor this recipe up just a little. I dice the hot dogs, add ketchup, mustard, garlic powder, onion powder and cheese. Thanks for the recipe.
God bless
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Hi, just wanted to say thanks for the inspiration. I made up something similar to your recipe and the kids loved it! Thanks again.
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Wow!!! I love the corndog muffin idea! I haven’t had a corn dog since I was a teenager….but just recently I had a hankering for one! Perfect timing And my boys love hotdogs and corn muffins…so I !think they’ll be thrilled to have them together! Can’t wait to make and freeze some of these….and how exciting is it to have a new lunch idea! So long pb&j…for now anyway!
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Hi, I just wanted to say that I love your site. And I love your cheerful attitude. So nice to finda cooking site that promotes healthful eating. I’m enjoying your fun website!
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Thanks for the corn dog muffin idea! My boys LOVE corn dogs but I so often feel guilty (and rightly so!) feeding them the frozen store bought kind. Now I can make them healthier at home!
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I made the mini corn dog muffins last night but diced up the hot dogs like someone suggested and they were great. Next time I’ll get two boxes of the muffin mix but my kiddos thought they were just the best things ever.
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The corn bread hot dog idea was a hit. We cut up the dogs and poured the mix over them in a 9 inch circle baking pan because we have no other way of baking. Tragedy I know but was a complete success! It was a great idea and very filling.
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Do you think these would freeze?
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Laura Reply:
April 19th, 2010 at 10:50 am
Yes, these freeze very well!
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Hi Laura,
I love this recipe for the corn dog muffins (and your whole website, really!). One question for you – when I made this recipe, the muffin part stuck to the liner, so we ended up losing half of the muffin part. How do you keep yours from doing this?
Thanks for all you do!!
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Laura Reply:
April 29th, 2010 at 9:23 am
Yes, this has happened to us before too! Usually if I let them cool a little before peeling off the paper,that helps. Or, I’m thinking I may just skip the papers all together and just butter my muffin tins really well instead!
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I made your corn dog recipe tonight and it was SO good! I haven’t had a corn dog since I went gluten-free dairy-free 10 months ago. You made my week!! I saw your recipe months ago and have wanted to try it. I just substituted the wheat flour with a GF flour mix and used rice milk. I also saw your recipe for chocolate chips! If you buy them GFCF from the store they are either very expensive or really cheap and terrible, so I can’t wait to try your recipe. Thanks!!
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Made a dozen of the corn dog muffins and a dozen of the sloppy corn muffins today – couldn’t wait to try them!! They were very yummy and my boys loved them, but I don’t think I pressed the dogs or sloppy joe far enough into the muffin. They just sort of sat on top. Didn’t affect the taste at all, though! And now I have some in the freezer for later! I can’t wait to make them again and perfect the technique. I love your recipes – Thank you for sharing so many!!
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Thank you for this recipe. I like the thought of the corndog muffins even better since there is no messy frying involved. I just finished the last corndog last night and was thinking how I need to get more but making them is so much cheaper!
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