Kittencal's Hush Puppies

Kittencalskitchen's Note:

These are a family-favorite they fry up light and so fluffy, a must drizzled pancake or maple syrup on top, servings is only estimated it will depend on how much the batter you drop from the spoon --- these can also be made in a deep-fryer with oil heated to 365°F :)

• Total Time: 15 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 18

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon seasoning salt or 1/2 teaspoon white salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper (or to taste)
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 large egg, slightly beaten
• 1/2 cup milk (might need a little more)
• 3 tablespoons melted lard or 2 tablespoons shortening
• 1 (12 ounce) canned corn kernels, drained and coarsely chopped
• oil (for frying)

Directions:

1. Pour enough oil in a large cast-iron skillet (or a heavy skillet) to about 1-1/2-inches or a little more.
2. Heat oil over medium-high until hot (to test the oil drop a spoonful of batter into hot oil if it sizzles it is ready).
3. In a bowl mix together flour, cornmeal baking powder, seasoned salt, and cayenne pepper and sugar.
4. In another bowl beat together egg, milk and melted lard or shortening until combined; add into the flour mixture; mix to combined (if the mixture seems to dry then add in a little more milk.
5. Mix in the chopped corn kernels.
6. Drop the batter by teaspoonfuls into hot oil and fry until golden turning once (these will not take long to brown).
7. Drain well on paper towels.
8. Delicious.

Reviews

[jan...]

Just tried these two nights ago; I usually have fried cornbread because since I left North Carolina, I can't seem to find a hush puppy recipe that is worth the effort. Until Now. This one is a "keeper". I only deviated from the exact recipe a wee bit. First, it should be noted that you cannot drop batter any larger than the teaspoonful Kittencal has specified; if you do, your hushpuppy will not get done in the middle. If you use the teaspoon(not a tsp. measuring spoon, but a tea-spoon size) to measure, they're perfect. ( They puff up). I omitted the cayenne and because I failed to read the recipe correctly, I did not chop the corn kernels, but since my results were perfect, I am never going to chop them. And finally, I did not have a 12 oz. can of corn. I had either 16 oz. or the small can which is 8 3/4 oz. I used the small one and as I said before, my hushpuppies were perfect!( By the way, I did not need more milk.) I also used a deep fryer and just rolled them over as they browned. I am so happy to finally have a "go to" recipe for hushpuppies. Thank you, Kittencal! I am a trusting fan of your recipes. As a footnote: I had some hushpuppies left over and they are delicious the second day.

[AmandaMcG]

They were delicious. I made them in my deep fryer and they didn't stay together very well so next time I'll make them in a frying pan instead. Even though they were a mess after coming out of the fryer, I didn't really care because they tasted great.

[kitchen_mom]

When I made these, I decided to use up some of my self-rising flour, so I used that and reduced the baking powder by half. Turns out I should have omitted it altogether because when I began dropping the batter into the skillet, it puffed up really big! I was a little worried, but when I tasted them they were very fluffy and soft. It was definitely different than I was used to, but it was a very pleasant accident because they tasted great!