Oh my word!  Sorry for my absence the past week!  I was traveling, but had still hoped to get my recipes posted and it just didn’t happen.  So, why not apologize for my delay with corn dogs!  Yes, I love corn dogs.  (Have you ever tried one at Disneyland?  They are INCREDIBLE!)  I rarely eat them though because they come fried like 99.9% of the time.  Unless . . . . we make them ourselves at home.  I stumbled across this recipe a couple summers ago and gave them a whirl.  I’m not gonna lie.  I think these are SO much better than the typical, fried corn dogs.  They’re worth the extra amount of work, which really isn’t much, and they are WAY healthier for us.  I’ve taken them to family BBQ’s (reheating them on the grill) and they are a gobbled up in no time.  Definitely a crowd pleaser among adults and children alike.

I usually buy Turkey Franks.  I’ve bought the Jennie-O brand (70 calories per dog) and the Ball Park-All White Turkey brand (only 45 calories per dog).   Both yield tasty results.  (If you’re not trying to be super-duper healthy I will tell you that the Nathan’s All-Beef Hot Dogs are the yummiest, but you’ll pay for it with extra calories as they come in at 170 calories per dog.)

The dough is a cinch to pull together.  The only trick is to make sure you allow enough time for it to rise, so plan accordingly.  Once the dough is risen it takes maybe ten minutes to roll it out and wrap around your hotdogs and then you just bake them.  The dough has a nice, sweat corn taste to compliment the hotdogs and I personally love to dip the finished corn dogs in spicy mustard (it’s high in flavor and low in calories).

Sometimes I cut some of the hotdogs in half (crosswise) before I wrap the dough around them so that there are little ones for the kids.   We eat these at record speed every time I make them.  I’m pretty sure you will too.

Baked Corn Dogs
Adapted from The Food Network

1 cup reduced-fat milk
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast (like SAF)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1 cup fine yellow cornmeal
3/4 cup whole wheat flour, plus more for dusting and kneading
1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
12 reduced-fat hot dogs (I used Ball Park Turkey Franks)
1 large egg, beaten

Warm the milk to about 110 degrees; pour into mixing bowl. Sprinkle in the yeast and let soften for about 2 minutes.  Add in the olive oil, brown sugar and cornmeal and mix until it just comes together.   Add the flour, salt, baking soda and cayenne pepper; mix to make a sticky dough.

With a dough hook, knead the dough in the mixer for about 2 minutes, adding more flour if needed, until a smooth but still slightly tacky dough forms.  (Alternately you can turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding more flour if needed, until smooth but still slightly tacky, about 5 minutes.)  Shape the dough into a ball, place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Meanwhile, insert a wooden stick or small skewer into each hot dog, about 2 inches deep; set aside.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and lightly oil a large baking sheet. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface; divide into 12 pieces. With your palms, roll each piece into a 10 to 12-inch length. Wrap each piece around a hot dog, tucking and pressing the edges to seal; place on the baking sheet.

Brush the dough-wrapped dogs with the beaten egg. Bake until golden, 15 minutes.

Serves 6

Nutritional Information (Per Serving = 2 Corn Dogs)
Calories:  335
Protein:  19.3g
Carbs:  51.3g
Fat:  6.7g (1.2g = Sat. Fat)
Fiber:  4g
Sugars:  8.3g