The reason that I blog is because so many of the best memories of my life are strongly associated with foods (and I want to keep track of said memories and foods)! Sweets with Pap-Pap, cafeteria lunches with grade school friends, dinners with Mom and Dad, holiday meals with our whole family, and so on. One of the earliest of my food memories is ritually getting a corn dog at the mall with my Mom. It's the little things in life, right?! I'll have to ask her exactly what mall it was that had the prized corn-dogs and just how many times we enjoyed shopping and high-class dining together, although that may just ruin my happy little memory!
Fast forward to last weekend - we were going to our annual Penn State tailgate at Aloha Stadium and I needed a food offering that was liked by many yet easy to transport and eat. That's when I found Iowa Girl Eats' take on a mini corn dog muffin! She, too, agrees that these are a football food. (In case you missed it, Penn State crushed the Iowa Hockeyes this weekend! Iowa Girl I hope you're not a Hockeyes fan.) I un-mini-ed her muffins, added cheese, and used Lil Smokies.
Corn Dog Muffins with Cheese
Makes 24 (standard size) muffins
Print this recipe
1/2 of a cup of butter, melted
1/2 of a cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk (as always, I used the sour milk trick)
1/2 of a teaspoon of baking soda
1 cup of cornmeal
1 cup of all purpose flour
1/2 of a teaspoon of salt
24 Lil Smokies
Between 1/2 and 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper
Get ready by spraying your muffin tins with non-stick spray and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
In a bowl, combine the melted butter with the sugar and whisk to combine. Next add the eggs and whisk again, then repeat with the buttermilk and whisk, whisk, whisk!
In another bowl combine the baking soda, cornmeal, flour, and salt, then stir (or whisk) to combine. (See the sour milk project there?)
As if you haven't had enough fun with the whisk, add the dry ingredients into the wet in small batches and whisk to incorporate. Finally add the cheese and, you guessed it, whisk to combine! Can you tell that cheese was shredded at home and not the pre-packaged kind?
Don't forget to add some salt and pepper to your liking. Pour the batter into the muffin tins equally then stuff the Lil Smokies into the center of each. You don't have to cover them completely, the batter will rise to the occasion! Who can't resist baking jokes? This girl right here.
Bake for close to 10 minutes, or until the muffins are golden brown. Serve warm or transport to a tailgate to enjoy at Igloo Cooler temperature and serve with ketchup and mustard.
The end result is similar to the recipe: fairly simple, just the right size, and fun! I particularly like mine with a ton of Heinz 57 and a cold beverage. Sure, the fun of the food on a stick is gone, but these are perfection even without the novelty. It's no stop on the memory lane of childhood, although these will be on the sidelines for many future pigskin games and tailgates in the near future.
We tried the leftovers for breakfast with maple syrup - incredible!
What's your favorite football food this season?
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