Corn Fritters with Habanero Pepper Jelly

We all need a break sometimes. It’s not that I haven’t been cooking…we’ve just been super busy the past few months. That being the case, we’ve been doing a lot of easy meals and leftovers. Can you blame us?

All this is to say, we’ve been having a lot of fun this summer. In May I had my annual MSU girls weekend in PA, followed by a long weekend of camping up in WI with friends. In June we attended Evan’s college reunion in IA and had a wonderful visit from his younger sisters (they’re all grown up!). In July we had our annual week long vacation in MI, my twenty year high school reunion (no old jokes please…), and attended Lollapalooza in Grant Park for one amazing day. We spent most of August at home, resting up before an action packed fall arrives. So while I have a chance to catch my breath, I thought I’d take some time to share a new recipe!

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you know that I love Cooking Light Magazine. I probably have a couple thousand of their recipes on file, either in binders or scanned into my computer. There are some recipes that I like to make on the regular, but others sit untouched for weeks, months, sometimes years before I get around to giving them a try. Once I started seeing corn at the grocery store, I was inspired to finally whip this one up!

Put your favorite apron on and get ready to cook! You’ll need flour, baking powder, sea salt, cumin, cayenne pepper, 2% reduced-fat milk, unsalted butter, an egg, scallions, corn, coconut oil, and habanero jelly.

Thinly slice 1/3 cup scallions (green parts only) and set aside.

Using a whisk, combine 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 3/4 teaspoon sea salt, 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin, and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper in a small bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk 1/2 cup 2% reduced-fat milk, 1 tablespoon melted unsalted butter, and one egg.

Add the egg mixture to the flour, stirring until just combined. Then fold in the scallions and 2 cups cooked fresh corn kernels, removed from the cob. You can also use thawed frozen corn.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. I used my cast iron skillet. Add 2 tablespoons coconut oil and swirl to coat the bottom of your pan. Spoon 2 tablespoons of batter into your pan for each fritter. Be sure to leave enough room between each to be able to flip them easily.

Cook 3-4 minutes or until golden-brown, then flip. Cook for an additional 3-4 minutes, pressing down on the fritters to flatten them if necessary. This will help them cook evenly throughout.

When finished, transfer them to a baking sheet or oven proof dish to keep warm in the oven until serving. If you have batter remaining, repeat the process until it’s gone.

These are great on their own, but are even better with some spicy jelly! I used Esch Road’s Manitou Island Habanero Pepper Jelly. As an experiment, I also tried some leftover fritters with Food For Thought’s Strawberry Basil Organic Preserves. The sweet/savory combo was delicious!

However you decide to serve up your corn fritters, enjoy!

Appetizers, Comfort Food, Side Dishes, Vegetarian