Gluten-free corn dog muffins and coconut fish sticks

This dinner made me feel like a little kid again. Corn dogs and fish sticks! I'm in love with the batter recipe from Tasty Kitchen, and the muffin idea came out of necessity—I didn't have time for sticks and battering (as you know, gluten-free dough can be a mess to work with), so dumping the dogs and batter into muffin tins was the perfect solution. Upon inhaling my fifth (yes, that's five) muffins, I asked my husband to stop me from eating any more.

These are that good.

I just wish my photography was that good. (Bear with me. I'm learning.)

The cod fish sticks were a simple experiment that fell short of perfection only in that they lacked a good douse of coconut oil, which I'll happily add next time around. If you like experimenting in the kitchen, or have allergies to coconut or almonds, I'm sure there are endless options for the breading (crushed corn flakes, minced pecans-and-dates, oats whirled in the food processor, ground flax seed, etc.). This is the only one I can vouch for, however, and it is a taste treat!

Without further adieu, here are the feel-like-a-kid-again (but healthy!) recipes...

Corn Dog Muffins

Ingredients

¼ cups canola or vegetable oil

4 chicken hot dogs

¼ cups plain almond milk (or your choice of milk)

¼ teaspoons distilled white vinegar

1½ cup blanched almond flour

¾ cups tapioca flour

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons agave

2 whole eggs

½ cups warm water plus up to 1/4 cup if needed

½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

Lightly oil a muffin tin and preheat oven to 350. Cut up chicken hot dogs into bite-sized chunks.

Mix together the almond milk and vinegar; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients: almond flour, tapioca flour, xanthan gum, salt, and baking powder.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together all of the wet ingredients: agave nectar, eggs, buttermilk mixture, 1/2 cup of water, and vanilla.

Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry, mixing well. Add an additional 1/8 cup of warm water at a time if the batter needs to be thinned out more.

Fill each muffin tin half full of batter, then drop in two to three hot dog pieces. Cover with a dollop more of batter.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown (and an inserted toothpick comes out clean).

Yields: 12 muffins

Coconut Cod Fish Sticks

Ingredients

3-4 medium filets of cod (I buy the frozen wild caught cod at Trader Joe's)

2 eggs

1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

1/2 cup almond flour

salt/pepper

Directions

Oil a small casserole dish and preheat oven to 350.

In Ziploc bag, combine coconut, almond flour, salt and pepper. (I threw in about 1/2 teaspoon salt and even less of pepper.)

Pat filets dry. Lightly beat eggs in shallow dish. Coat filets with egg, then place in baggy. Shake gently till evenly coated.

Lay filets in casserole dish and sprinkle any remnants in bag over the filets. Bake for 20-25 minutes (depending upon how thick your filets are).

Serves: 2-4