-
Prep time
15 minutes
-
Cook time
10 minutes
-
Serves
4
Author Notes
Golden brown, crunchy all over, steaming from the fryer, sparkling with spiced sugar. It might be a little unconventional to make hush puppies from scratch when perfectly measured mixes are so popular and available in the South. But that will never stop my pastry chef brain from doing it anyway. This recipe is inspired by my mother, Melissa, and Bennett’s Grill & Cafe in Calabash, North Carolina, where she worked. It’s adapted from a savory hush puppy recipe in Charleston Receipts, which is the oldest Junior League cookbook still in print. It contains 750 Southern recipes mixed with verses and quotes from the Gullah Geechee, descendants of West and Central Africans who were taken to South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida to work on plantations. The Gullah Geechee have carefully preserved their literature and art, and the recipes in Charleston Receipts are a perfect example. It’s thanks to African Americans that we have so many incredible Southern dishes that we love and cook today, hush puppies included. —alexander roberts
Continue After Advertisement
Watch This Recipe
Cinnamon-Sugar Hush Puppies
Ingredients
- Cinnamon Sugar:
-
1/4 cup
(50 grams) sugar
-
2 teaspoons
ground cinnamon
-
Whipped butter and jam, for serving
- Hushpuppies:
-
1/4 cup
(45 grams) yellow cornmeal
-
1 cup
(120 grams) all-purpose flour
-
3 tablespoons
(36 grams) granulated sugar
-
1 teaspoon
baking powder
-
1/4 teaspoon
baking soda
-
1/4 teaspoon
kosher salt
-
1
large egg
-
1/2 cup
(114 grams) buttermilk
-
4 cups
canola (or another neutral) oil, for frying
Directions
- Cinnamon Sugar:
-
In a small bowl, whisk together ¼ cup sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Set aside for later.
- Hushpuppies:
-
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until combined.
-
Whisk the egg into the buttermilk in a measuring cup.
-
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the buttermilk mixture. Fold with a spatula to combine, just until no flour streaks remain (the batter will be thick). Let it rest for about 10 minutes while you heat the oil.
-
Add the oil to a Dutch oven. Place on the stove with a thermometer attached (or have an instant read thermometer close by). Heat the oil to 365°F.
-
When the oil is ready, scoop several leveled tablespoons of batter into the skillet. Fry until floating and deeply golden brown, turning once halfway through, 2 to 5 minutes total.
-
Using a slotted spoon or tongs, transfer the hushpuppies to a paper-towel-lined plate. Immediately drop the warm hushpuppies into the reserved bowl of cinnamon sugar, tossing to coat fully. Transfer the coated hush puppies to a platter.
-
Repeat with the remaining batter and serve with whipped butter and jam for dipping.
See what other Food52ers are saying.