Pancake “Corn-Dog” Bites, My New Fav Dish for Trendy Brunches!

I love to host brunch… its my most favorite meal to eat and to make, and even more of a favorite to eat 🙂 It feels fancy and there is so much variety of things you can cook, from breakfast sweets and hearty sausage gravies, to Monte Cristo sandwiches and fresh fruit salads. And don’t forget the fact that the promise of brunch includes the assumption that mimosas will be served too!

Same story as always, I was looking for something new to add to my recipe list and decided to see what my girl Ree Drummond had to offer up. The Pioneer Woman has yet to lead me astray! She had a recipe for “Sausage Pancakes On A Stick“, and I decided to roll with it and only made slight variations on the way. The main difference is she was doing one sausage per stick, where I decided to third my sausage links and make them into little bites on toothpicks. Though something called a ‘breakfast sausage corn dog’ sounds nothing close to sophisticated, I thought that they looked cute and were an easy bite-sized snack for guests. If you really wanted to dress them up, you could tie little ribbons on the toothpicks after you fried them… I don’t have that kind of patience or time but you should post pictures if you give it a try 🙂

The picture I posted shows how I served them at a fall brunch, but I really think they could be fun anytime! I would totally serve them again at a Christmas brunch, or they would be fun around 4th of July with a different type of spread. They are basically a fun variation of “pigs in a blanket” and they are SO DELICIOUS! You have to give them a try guys.

Here is what you need:

• Package of breakfast sausage links, cooked
• 3 C Pancake Mix (dry from the box, not prepared)
• 1 C Yellow Cornmeal
• Sprinkle of cinnamon
•  1 whole egg, slightly beaten
•  1/2 teaspoon vanilla
•  3 cups water
•  Canola or vegetable oil, for frying
•  Warm pancake syrup, for serving
•  Toothpicks

In a large bowl, mix the pancake mix, cornmeal, and cinnamon.

Add egg, and vanilla. After add the water, but do it slowly until you reach your desired consistency. You don’t want the batter to be too runny (I don’t think I used the whole 3 cups).

Heat up your oil in a stovetop pot for frying. Take your toothpicks and start to skewer your sausage bites, leaving one end hanging out as a handle for guests to pick them up with.

When you think your oil is ready (350 degrees is ideal… if you don’t have a thermometer make sure you don’t have your heat on high so you don’t burn them!), dip one of your sausages in the batter and carefully put it in the oil. You should see and hear sizzling but not see or smell burning.

If the oil is ready, continue to cover your sausage bites on the toothpicks in the pancake batter, then toss into the pot for frying. I would fry about 4-6 at a time, and you will have to help manually rotate them with tongs so all sides are cooked evenly. You want them to be a nice golden brown (not dark brown).

Let them cool 5 minutes so they aren’t too hot from the oil, then serve up with warmed maple syrup!