Zesty Jalapeño Hush Puppies

Why This Zesty Jalapeño Hush Puppies Works

As the dry and wet bowls come together, the cornmeal and flour soak up the buttermilk and egg just enough to form a thick, sticky batter. Baking powder and baking soda sit in that batter waiting for heat, so once it hits the hot oil, tiny bubbles start to form inside. Those bubbles puff the hush puppies up, so they come out light instead of dense.

During frying, the outside of each spoonful of batter hits the hot oil first and quickly firms up into a thin crust. That crust keeps the inside from drying out, so the center stays soft and moist while the outside turns golden and crisp. Jalapeños and green onions are chopped small, so they spread through the batter and soften in the heat without falling out. By the time the hush puppies are done, the outside is crunchy, the inside is tender, and everything holds together in little round bites.

Mistakes To Avoid

Letting the oil get too hot makes the outside of the hush puppies brown very fast while the centers stay raw and pasty. The cook might pull them once they look dark enough, but the middle will still be wet and undercooked. On the flip side, oil that is too cool gives greasy, heavy hush puppies that soak up oil instead of crisping.

Overmixing the batter after the wet ingredients go in causes the flour to build too much structure. In the pan this shows up as hush puppies that don’t puff much and feel tough or bready instead of light and tender. The inside can end up chewy instead of soft.

Using big chunks of jalapeño or piling in too many creates uneven frying. Large wet pieces make some spots in the batter stay soggy and can cause the hush puppies to crack or leak in the oil. The result is broken, misshapen pieces with pockets of raw batter around the peppers.

Dropping very large scoops of batter into the oil means the outside finishes before the center has time to cook. The hush puppies look done, but when broken open, the middle is dense and gummy instead of fluffy.