When life gets crazy, it’s nice to have something to look forward to, no matter how tiny it may be.
This September was just about the busiest month I’ve ever encountered (a close runner-up being the one when we moved to a new city and got married in the old city, in that order). I spent the month working tirelessly on the new and improved layout for West Coaster (check it out!!) and did very little cooking.
So through all my crazed late night yelling at the computer screen, I tried to keep in mind that one day soon the mailman was going to bring me an early peek at a book I’d been looking forward to with childlike anticipation: Tiny Food Party by Teri Lyn Fisher and Jenny Park of Spoon Fork Bacon.
I mean, what’s more fun than tiny food?!
(Large amounts of tiny food.)
The book takes a playful and easy approach to party food, and makes the finished product damn cute to boot.
A world of cuisines are represented, with some crazy twists on classics.
Deviled eggs? No – they’re Mini Kimchi Deviled Eggs. With a candied bacon topping. COME ON. You’re killing me ladies.
For my first mini bite, I chose to make corn dogs. There were a few reasons for this:
1. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had corn dogs. That needed to be remedied.
2. I was about to go out of town and wanted something I could freeze and eat more of when I returned.
3. Corn dogs.
The batter is super flavorful and includes bacon, so I figure I don’t really need to sell you any further.
Mini Corn Dogs

From Tiny Food Party
I found that I had to add a bit more buttermilk than the recipe called for to thin it out. Also, I didn't have white pepper, so I just used a bit less of black pepper.
Ingredients
- 1 quart vegetable oil, for frying
- 24 toothpicks or cocktail sticks
- 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 cup cooked crumbled bacon (about 9 strips)
- 24 cocktail wieners (such as Lit'l Smokies), or 6 hot dogs cut into 4 pieces each
Method
- In a medium pot, preheat oil to 365 degrees F.
- In a mixing bowl, stir together cornmeal, flour, sugar, cayenne pepper, chili powder, salt, white pepper, baking powder and baking soda. (Tip: if you prefer a smoother batter, pulse the cornmeal and flour together in a food processor before stirring in the remaining dry ingredients.) Stir in buttermilk, egg and honey and gently whisk until no lumps remain. Fold in bacon.
- Skewer 1 cocktail wiener on each toothpick. Working in small batches, dip and roll wieners in batter until fully coated and then quickly and carefully drop them, toothpick and all, into the hot oil. Fry for 3-4 minutes, until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.
Yields
24 mini corn dogshttp://kitchenetteblog.com/2012/10/mini-corn-dogs-from-tiny-food-party/?replytocom=3536
Congratulations on a beauty of a first book Jenny & Teri!
Yes….Yes….YES…..oh YES!!! I loooooe corn dogs, but no longer feel good about eating them. You know, the not-so-good-stuff that is supposed to be hidden in hotdogs, and the batter calories blah blah blah. Even at the Del Mar Fair, when you think you can splurge, the darn Corn Dog is so huge – it would knock me back for weeks on calorie consumption and nitrite overdose But THESE – these are perfect – I think I will go out and get me some of them SMART DOGS – and make up some PERFECT Dogs! OOOhh…and time to whip out all my different dipping mustards. Perfect for next week’s MNF game with the Chargers! Thank you Ms Kitchenette – you hit the target again!!
These definitely become much healthier with the Smart Dogs – I like that idea!
Oh, and GO CHARGERS!! 🙂
These look fun and yummy!!! 🙂 Great summer dish
Thanks Ashley!
I preordered this book a few weeks ago. Just excitedly waiting for it to arrive! I WANT MINI CORNDOGS!
Oh, just you wait… My husband was laughing at me because I was squealing with excitement at all the cuteness as I turned from page to page. It’s too much to handle!
These little corn dogs are so cute! I love it.
Thanks Russell!
Where, oh where did you find those wooden picks? I’ve been looking for them everywhere. The food looks so cute and scrumtious!
I got them at Target! Diamond brand “bamboo forks”. Aren’t they adorable?!
I love it! I never actually had corn dogs… but maybe I should try making a low carb version.
I feel like I would have no idea where to even start on making a low carb batter, but I bet you’d be the one for the job! 🙂
If I were to make these for a party, could I fry them ahead of time and pop them in the oven to warm them up? Or would they dry out?
I haven’t tried that for these in particular, but my general rule for all fried foods is that they’ll keep in a 200 degree F oven on a wire rack set over a baking sheet for at least 30-60 minutes after frying. It’s always better to make them a bit ahead and keep them warm than to make them way ahead and re-warm, in my opinion.
Thank you so much for your response! Love your blog!
Hi Brittany – When looking at your work I am reminded of a guy I went to high school with (old guy) who makes his living photographing food: http://www.hinephoto.com/
What a flattering comparison – thanks Norbert! 🙂
I think I really need to go get that book! I am with you, I LOVE tiny food. Although I think after this weekend I will need to lay off the appetizers for a while!
Oh my gosh – it’s Tuesday and I still feel full…
Maybe I did something wrong? I followed the recipe, dropped them in the oil at the temperature listed, and watched them immediately start to burn. By 2 minutes they were pitch black. The taste is fine around the char, but around the color and the difficulty getting the batter to stick to the hot dog in the first place (they’re pretty lumpy), I can’t use these for my party like I’d been hoping to.
Hm. I did have to add more buttermilk than what’s listed in the recipe (mentioned in the notes). Without the extra, the batter was too thick to coat the hot dogs.
It’s definitely a dark batter from the spices, but I didn’t have any problems with them burning. I wonder if it might be because the batter was too thick? It sounds like you were using a fry thermometer so it shouldn’t be a problem with oil temp… I don’t know! I’m so bummed they didn’t work out for you. 🙁