These mini corn dog muffins are the perfect weeknight meal for busy families (and picky eaters). Hearty, kid-pleasing, and super fast to make–a winner of a dinner!   If you know me in real life at all, you might have done a double take when you saw the title of today’s post.

Yes, my friends, you read that right. Megan just posted a recipe that involves hot dogs.

If you don’t know me in real life, let me give you a little background….

I really don’t like hot dogs.

In fact, I can only think of two times I have eaten a hot dog in the last 20 years. One was because I didn’t want to offend a guy who had planned a really nice campfire date for us. The other was because I was eight months pregnant, ravenous, and hot dogs were the ONLY food we had with us at the beach that day. Desperate times…

Now, I’m not actually morally opposed to hot dogs, they’re just gross to me. In my household, however, I am completely outnumbered in that opinion.

Lucky for me, I plan the meals and buy the food, so I don’t ever have to eat them. My kids and husband just have to get their hot dog fix when we eat at Costco or at other people’s summer barbecues. They’re deprived that way.

A few weeks ago, though, the grocery store had a super good deal on the really high-quality hot dogs–all beef…no nitrates…the works. So I bought some. I can count on one hand the number of times I have purchased hot dogs in my life, so this was a big deal. My husband was shocked. It made me happy to see the look of surprise on his face when he saw them in the refrigerator.

Once I had them in the cart, however, I started getting ideas of how to use them. My son is kind of obsessed with corn dogs, and I remembered seeing once that someone made corn dogs in muffin form. I’m always looking for hearty afternoon snacks, dinners for the babysitter to feed the kids, and easy kid-pleasing meals for when dad is working late, and this one seemed like a winner.

I’m happy to report, it was not only a winner…it was a gold medal, world-record-breaking champion. The first time I made the recipe, I served up 24 mini muffins for dinner. 30 minutes later, my three boys had devoured 21 of them!

In fact, the only reason they didn’t finish them was because I told them we needed to save at least a few so that Daddy could have some leftovers when he got home.

(I’ve since increased the recipe because they eat them SO fast!)Now, this meal isn’t going to win an award for being a gourmet masterpiece, but it’s a great weeknight meal that you can make from start to finish in 20 minutes.

I even made them a little healthier by using half wheat flour in the batter. You can use all whole wheat flour, but the muffins will be a little denser. Either way, this kid-sized food is perfect for little hands to gobble up quickly.

Hearty, kid-friendly, and super fast to make. As my kids say, “It’s a winner of a dinner!”

Corn Dog Muffins

Yield: 32 mini muffins, or 18 regular muffins

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Total Time: 27 minutes

These mini corn dog muffins are the perfect weeknight meal for busy families (and picky eaters). Hearty, kid-pleasing, and super fast to make–a winner of a dinner!

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Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour (I use half white and half wheat)
• 1/2 cup finely ground cornmeal
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 2 large eggs slightly beaten
• 1/4 cup oil
• 3 Tablespoons butter, melted
• 8 beef hot dogs, cut into 4 equal pieces

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour(s), cornmeal, sugar, salt, and baking powder.
3. Make a well in the middle and add milk, eggs, oil, and butter. Stir until just mixed and no dry streaks are visible.
4. Fill mini muffin cups half full of batter, and insert one piece of hot dog into the center of each one.
5. Bake for 12 minutes, or until muffins start to turn golden on the edges and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
6. Cool in the pan for five minutes, and then turn out onto a wire rack or dish towel.
7. Serve warm with ketchup and mustard.

To Freeze: place cooked muffins in a single layer on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer. Once frozen, transfer to a zip top bag, squeeze out as much air as possible and return to the freezer. To reheat, microwave on high for 30 seconds, or until desired temperature is reached.

Notes

If you don’t have mini-muffin pans, you can make these in a regular muffin pan, you’ll just yield 18 instead of 32. If you make the bigger ones, you can cut your hot dog in half or thirds to adjust for the size, or cut them up into chunks and mix into the batter for a more distributed result. Watch the bake time closely…you’ll need to add a few minutes of baking for regular muffin-sized corn dogs.

Source: Adapted from The Anthony Kitchen. I used my own corn bread recipe, but followed Kelly's method and cooking directions.

Want more kid-sized food? Try these…

• Mini Egg Frittatas
• Healthy Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Meatball Sliders
• Aardvark Pies
• Mini German Puff Pancakes