Add Hot Dogs To Cornbread For A Major Upgrade

If someone asked you whether or not you'd ever eat hot dogs in cornbread, perhaps you'd give them a strange look and politely inform them about the existence of corn dogs, that Midwestern state fair classic. That's not exactly what this is about here. Corn dogs are typically made with cornmeal batter and other ingredients commonly found in cornbread (like flour and sugar), to be sure. Have you ever made cornbread with pieces of hot dog directly in them, though? There's no corn dog stick required, and you're likely to get a similar flavor with a few less steps.

You can make the cornbread through the usual 3-2-1 Jiffy cornbread hack or however you prefer to do it, and typically you can just add chopped hot dogs into the mixture while you're baking. Unlike the hot dog dipped in corn dog batter, the hot dog inside a larger chunk of sweet, crumbly cornbread adds a bit of chewy texture and meaty flavor. There's no deep frying necessary either — hot dogs are usually sold fully cooked straight out of the package, so the deep frying is really just for flavor and texture. In any case, your hot dog cornbread can work without it.

A rather uncommon but easy-to-make snack is the hot dog cornbread mini muffin, which is exactly what it sounds like. You just pour the batter into each mold inside of a muffin tray, place a bite-sized piece of hot dog into the center of each mold, and bake as normal. The end results are sort of a cross between pigs in a blanket and mini corn dogs, but they're sweet and really simple. A full loaf or even a casserole with bits of hot dog is also doable, although it helps if you chop up the hot dogs into even smaller bits before you mix in and bake.

For extras, you have options from the worlds of cornbread and hot dogs. Bizarrely, while mustard is considered one of the ideal condiments for a hot dog, you'll often see ketchup served with corn dogs. Likewise, dipping your muffins into ketchup here works because both are sweetened with sugar and slightly savory. For something more substantial, you can draw ideas from a Southern cookout and add plenty of beans and greens on the side. If it's really important to you that this hot dog cornbread is on a stick, just like a real corn dog, then nobody will stop you from jamming a popsicle stick into the center of your muffin. It may not hold as well though, since the cornbread is less sticky.