This Corn Dog Casserole Will Be Your New Super Bowl Favorite.
I’ll hesitate every time someone offers me a hot dog, but make it a corn dog and I’ll be lining up before the store opens with a packet of mustard in my paws. Sweet corn icing and salty doggy make appetizer magic that I find irresistible, but I would never take the trouble to fry at home, and I won’t try to convince you to. You can get all the sweet and savory flavors of your favorite battered dog in a more convenient home cooking, Super Bowl-ready, feeding twelve at once, no human intervention. Just make cornmeal casserole.
Let’s face it, hot dogs in cornbread are delicious. This sausage gets a lot of hatred, but it’s tasty, salty, and juicy, and cornbread is the best way to support those qualities. (Better than a hot dog bun, I dare say.) For this method, I sliced a few sausages into circles and kneaded them into cornbread dough. The finished appetizer bread completely exceeded my expectations in terms of taste. The hot dogs stayed juicy and even infused the surrounding bread with desirable saltiness, and the cornbread kept its proper shape, providing a sweet flavor and a slightly grainy texture. You even get the crispy top that you would enjoy on a real corn dog.
You can use any cornbread recipe you like, from boxed Jiffy to homemade, but I suggest leaning towards sweet and crunchy rather than dry and crumbly. Real corn dogs on a stick have a sweet cornbread coating, so I think that brings out the flavor more. Otherwise, you don’t have to do anything other than decide how spicy each bite of the casserole should be. I used this cornbread recipe and it was stellar. I cut four hot dogs into circles about a quarter to a half inch wide and folded them into the batter before pouring the whole thing into a 7″ x 9″ baking dish. I would say this is the minimum number of dogs you need to have a few slices of sausage in each serving. Use another hot dog or two for a higher ratio, but don’t make more than eight hot dogs. At this point, you will be preparing another dish. Bake the casserole according to the instructions for the cornbread recipe.
If you’re so inclined, you can add grated cheese, scallions, or scallions to the batter for interest and flavor. I threw in a tablespoon of dried green onions but stopped before adding the cheese, which was tricky but I managed. Cornmeal casserole makes a fun Super Bowl appetizer or side dish in your backyard kitchen with baked beans and pasta salad. Don’t forget to bring ketchup and yellow mustard.