Hush Puppies

Delicious, super easy, bite-sized cornmeal fritters with a beautiful crunchy exterior and a moist inner texture. Enjoy this fun appetizer or side, perfect for gatherings and special occasions.

Makes 20-24 hush puppies

Course Main

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 20

Total Time 30

Servings

Calories 208kcal

Author Imma

Ingredients

1 cup (120g) all-purpose flour
1 cup (138g) cornmeal
½ tablespoon (6g) baking powder
2 tablespoons (25g) sugar
1 teaspoon (6g) salt
1 tablespoon (10g) garlic powder
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
⅓ cup (75-76g) buttermilk
3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter, softened
2-3 tablespoons (12-18g) diced onion (or thinly sliced green onions)
oil for frying

Instructions

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar, salt, and garlic powder.
In another bowl, lightly beat the eggs, and add them to the dry ingredients. Add the buttermilk and mix well.
Add the softened butter and the diced onions or sliced green onions, and mix until well combined. Let the batter rest for about 5 minutes to hydrate the dry ingredients.
Heat about 4 inches of oil in a large cast-iron skillet on medium-high heat (375℉/190℃) until hot but not smoking.
Scoop the batter with a spoon or ice cream scoop and gently drop it into the hot oil. Fry in batches, turning once, until golden brown (about 5 minutes per batch). Be careful not to overcrowd the pan, as it will lower the temperature of the oil too quickly, resulting in greasy hush puppies.
Remove the hush puppies with a slotted spoon, letting the excess oil drain back into the skillet. Place them on paper towels to absorb more oil.

Notes

For softer hush puppies, instead of a 1:1 ratio of flour to cornmeal, change it to 1¼ cups flour and ¾ cups cornmeal.
Letting the batter rest for a few minutes gives the dry ingredients time to absorb liquid and cook evenly.
A Dutch oven and a deep cast-iron skillet both work well for frying. Just make sure there's enough oil for the hush puppies to float.
Fry in batches until golden brown, flipping several times with a slotted spoon or other frying utensil to prevent the oil temperature from dropping and resulting in greasy hush puppies.
A cookie dough or ice cream scoop makes dropping the batter into the hot oil a breeze. If using a spoon, dip it into a glass of water between each hush puppy to keep the dough from sticking.
Drain on a double layer of paper towels to get as much oil off as possible.
Since hush puppies need to be fried in batches, I like keeping the cooked ones warm in a 200℉ (93℃) oven.
Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and may vary greatly depending on the ingredients used.

Nutrition