made the hush puppies - need advice

I made the hush puppies last night, didnt have baking powder, so omitted it, the children didnt want onions, so I omitted those too. and the recipe was
1-1/2 c corn meal
1/2 c flour
1 egg
3/4 c milk
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

egads were they dry! I used a pot with less than an inch of oil, and the hush puppies sank, then they floated, they did get a very nice golden brown. But to tell you the truth no one liked them, I ended up throwing most of them out!, not only were they dry they were harder than a rock..
so.....I imagine the baking powder was a main ingredient that I should not have omitted.... and I need to figure out a way to make the inside moist! I dont think the onion will make it moist.
Any ideas?