Give Hush Puppies A New Dimension Of Taste And Texture With This Simple Batter Addition

With their gritty, cornmeal exterior and fluffy centers, hush puppies are perfection inside and out. The crispy exterior giving way to pillow softness can hardly get any better — except when there's a sweet surprise waiting inside. To elevate the taste and texture of your next batch of hush puppies, add corn to the batter.

Cornmeal makes up a good chunk of hush puppies' batter, so the deep-fried treats already have a slightly sweet, earthiness to them. With a helping of the ingredient cornmeal stems from being dumped into the batter, that flavor is magnified, producing an even tastier batch of hush puppies. The grain has a relatively mild flavor in comparison to whole corn, and depending on the type of cornmeal you use, the kernels will easily stand out instead of fighting for your tastebuds' attention. The juicy corn kernels add a pop of sweetness that contrasts with their crunchy exterior and makes the insides even more tender.

To whip up corn-filled hush puppies, start by mixing the cornmeal, flour, salt, pepper, and other dry ingredients. Afterwards, pour in the buttermilk or milk, eggs, and canned or cooked corn kernels. Stir all the ingredients until they're well combined, but avoid overmixing, as this will create dense, chewy hush puppies rather than airy ones. Simmer vegetable oil over medium-high heat and drop tablespoons of the batter into the oil, turning them to allow each one to get golden brown.

The sweet corn kernels will definitely be the star of the hush puppies, but it always helps to make them shine even more with a few helpings. Peppery green onions, sweet peppers, and cheese pair well with corn in crispy, fluffy hush puppies, balancing out the earthy kernels while adding dimension to the treats' texture. Even better, you can spice up the kernels themselves so they're brimming with flavor inside each hush puppy.

Sprinkle salt, pepper, cayenne powder, and crushed garlic onto the kernels and heat them up in a pan with melted butter before folding them into the batter. Not only does this ensure each flavor is well incorporated, but the kernels can take on a nice crisp, too. The crunchy corn kernels will stand out amidst the airy hush puppies, creating a continuation of the initial crisp bite that comes from the treats' exterior.

If you'd rather have hush puppies that lean in the more tender direction, use creamed corn for the batter. The sweet, buttery canned ingredient is perfect for making corn hush puppies beignets, a recipe that combines the two Southern delights. The buttery corn already has sugar added to it, so the dusting of confectioner's sugar added to the hybrid treat feels perfectly in place.