Elevated Chili Dogs With Homemade Cornbread Buns Recipe

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Chili dogs may be notoriously messy and perhaps even a little unsightly, but one might argue that it's all part of the quintessential chili dog charm. The humble chili dog tends to get a bad reputation even though it is the perfect type of hot dog for meat lovers, one packed with savory flavor and various spices, with a chili topping that perfectly complements the snap of the beef hot dog layered underneath. It's (not so) secretly my favorite hot dog variation, even before my beloved hometown staple, the Chicago-style hot dog.

The idea of elevating a chili dog may seem counterintuitive, but in this recipe, we transform the low-brow delicacy into something a little more elegant (though it still has that distinct messiness and chili dog charm). The most obvious upgrade here is swapping regular hot dog buns with homemade cornbread ones, which adds a unique flair and an added touch of sweetness and corn flavor. The bison chili, laden with spices, should soak slightly into the buns, softening the exterior and meshing the flavors together with the sausage underneath. The final garnish comes in the form of crispy shallots, which provide just the right pungent punch to offset the richness of the chili. All together, the combination of ingredients becomes a perfect marriage of savory flavor — and is still just as messy as your favorite chili dog, as it always should be.

This recipe is made in several parts that each require different ingredients. First, to make the cornbread buns, grab yellow cornmeal, bread flour, salt, instant yeast, melted butter, sugar, and eggs. After prepping the dough you'll need to begin the chili, which requires ground bison, olive oil, onion, garlic, tomato sauce, beef broth, chili powder, salt, and black pepper. From there, you just need shallots and oil for the crunchy topping, and hot dogs for assembling it all together.

Begin the hot dog buns: Combine the flour, cornmeal, salt, instant yeast, melted butter, sugar, eggs, and 1 cup warm water in a bowl. Bring together with a spatula, then knead until dough is a smooth, elastic ball, about 8 minutes.

Oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Proof in a warm location for 90 minutes, until doubled in size.

Stretch the dough into a flat ½-inch thick rectangle. Divide the dough into 10 (4-ounce) pieces.

Gently knead each dough piece into a ball.

Roll the ball out to about 5 inches long (a little bit smaller than a hot dog). Tightly roll the dough into a cylinder, then pinch in the sides to seal.

Place each bun on a parchment-lined sheet tray, about 2 inches apart from one another.

Cover tightly with plastic wrap and proof for 45 minutes, until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Bake the buns for 20 minutes, until golden and fluffy. Remove from the oven and let cool.

In the meantime, make the chili. Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat.

Add the bison and crumble while browning, about 4 minutes.

Add the onion and garlic and soften until aromatic, about 2-3 minutes.

Add the tomato sauce, beef broth, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer and use a potato masher to mash the mixture into a fine paste.

Cook for 1 hour, adding beef broth or water as needed if the mixture gets too dry or thick. The chili should be fine but not watery.

While the buns are cooking, fry the onions for topping. Heat canola oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat to 350 F.

Once hot, add the sliced shallots and fry until just barely golden, about 8 minutes.

Remove shallots from the oil using a slotted spoon or spatula and spread them across a paper-towel lined sheet tray to drain completely.

To assemble the hot dogs, slice the buns in half and add the cooked hot dogs. Top with the prepared chili, then garnish with crispy shallots.

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While active dry and instant are not completely interchangeable, you can often swap one for another when making a recipe that requires yeast. Yeast, unlike chemical leavenings like baking soda or powder, is a small, natural fungus and used for exceptional rising, like in bread. Yeast works in bread through fermentation, a process that produces carbon dioxide which then expands into the flour-heavy dough and traps it into a risen, domed shape. A big difference between active dry and instant yeast is that active dry needs to be rehydrated and proofed before using, so if you've ever followed a bread recipe that called for mixing the yeast with warm water and possibly sugar before doing anything else, that's why. Instant yeast, on the other hand, can often be added right to the mix without the need for any prior proofing.

A few things can happen if you don't activate active dry yeast before using it for baking. Because it has a protective coating, it takes much longer to rise when mixed with other ingredients, and may never dissolve at all, speckling your bread with granules of yeast. If the yeast is old or expired, it may also do nothing, causing a flat loaf or bun. To properly substitute active dry yeast for instant yeast in this recipe, you'll only need about 1 tablespoon (since instant yeast granules are finer than active dry). Then, dissolve in the 1 cup of warm water and ¼ cup sugar as called for in the recipe and bloom for 10 minutes (you'll know the yeast has properly bloomed if it looks bubbly and foamy) before adding to the dough ingredients and kneading.

The great part of making the buns and the chili from scratch is that they both take a long time and can be made simultaneously. Bison chili can be cooked and remain covered for hours on the stove if needed, so you can easily get that task out of the way earlier in the day. You could also transfer the chili to a slow cooker on the warm setting if you don't have time to watch the pot. The flavor develops slowly, transforming from a more acidic flavor into a deeply savory, meaty chili. If you are skipping the cornbread buns and need a faster chili, though, the chili can come together in as little as 30 minutes.

To make the chili more quickly, simply cook it as written and simmer uncovered on medium heat until reduced into a thick chili. Taste the chili and add a few dashes of Worcestershire to bring out the savory elements, or a pinch of sugar to neutralize any excessive acidity. Simmer for about 20 minutes, until you've reached your preferred flavor and consistency.

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