Bacon Cheddar Jalapeño Stuffed Hush Puppies

This recipe calls for cornmeal, which is best gotten from South Carolina so I suggest you order some from Palmetto Farms. It’s cheap and they offer free shipping on all their orders and it’s delicious. As for the recipe itself, it’s a Cheesy, Bacony, and Jalapeñoey twist on the good ole Hush Puppies I grew up munching on and loving. You’ll need a deep skillet for this one and a lot of oil for frying.

This recipe also makes a lot so you can either half it or freeze half the balls.

• 8 oz Cream Cheese room temperature

• 1 Cup Cheddar Cheese shredded

• 2 Jalapeños seeded and minced

• 1 Pack of Bacon, a whole pack, cooked and crumbled up nice and small

• 1 1/2 Cup Yellow Cornmeal

• 1/2 Cup Gluten Free Flour

• 3 Tsp Salt

• 2 Tsp Pepper

• 1 Tsp Baking Powder

• 1 Tsp Baking Soda

• 2 Tsp Sugar

• 1/2 Tsp Cayenne Pepper

• Spices

• 1 Cup Buttermilk

• 1 Egg beaten

• 1 Yellow Onion grated. Take that Onion to a cheese grader and shred it. Wear goggles.

• Peanut Oil

1. Mix the Cream Cheese, Cheddar Cheese, Jalapeños, and Bacon with a hand mixer in a big bowl. Mix ‘em good.

2. Using a little teaspoon measuring spoon, scoop out the Cream Cheese mixture and roll into a little ball. They don’t have to be uniform or perfect, just roll some balls in your hands gently… Place the rolled up balls of Cream Cheese and Bacon goodness on a parchment paper lined pan and freeze them for 30 minutes or however long.

3. In a bowl, add the Cornmeal, Flour, Salt, Pepper, Baking Powder, Baking Soda, Sugar, Spices, and Cayenne Pepper. Whisk it good.

4. In yet another bowl, add the Buttermilk, Egg, and shredded Onion with its Onion juices and stir until combined.

5. Now don’t skimp on this part. Your arm will get tired but you gotta hang in there. SLOWLY add the Buttermilk Mixture to the dry ingredients, whisking until just combined. Make sure to fish out all the large Onion chunks that didn’t get shredded. Let it all sit at room temperature for 30 minutes or however long.

6. Heat that Peanut Oil in your skillet. Finally, the skillet!

7. Dip those Cream Cheese balls into the batter, ensuring they’re fully coated on all sides (they’ll be dripping and tough to fully cover, but don’t worry, it’ll be delicious nonetheless).

8. Carefully, very careful not to dip your fingers, place the balls into the hot oil and watch them sizzle. Don’t worry about their shape, they’re fine no matter how they look. Eventually the one side will get done so flip it over and let that other side finish. The perfect number to fry at one time is 4. That gives you enough time to dip and coat and drop and repeat while flipping them.

9. Take ‘em out! Let them drain on some paper towels or newspaper and let them cool for just a little bit before eating them.