Fun and Easy Corn Dogs at Home

Carnivals, state fairs, amusement parks, the boardwalk at the beach, all of the most fun places in a child’s world, and you can find corn dogs at every one of them! They’re a classic for a reason: they’re kid-friendly, easy to eat, and have the everything’s-more-fun-to-eat-on-a-stick factor going for them.

As much as we love all of these places, this year they haven’t been the safest activities, especially if you’ve got young children. But, that doesn’t mean that they, or you, have to miss out on all of the fun. Today we’re making corn dogs at home, and it’s going to be an easy, fun recipe perfect for lunches or snacks when you want to create that summer fun, carnival feeling in your own back yard.

Ingredient Notes

• Hot Dogs – Aim for skinless hot dogs for this recipe. The natural casing hot dogs are usually my favorites, I just love that snap. Unfortunately, those dogs are very often not straight, and trying to put a curved hot dog on a straight skewer isn’t a good time.
• Corn Meal – Finely ground corn meal is best for batters. The coarse or stone-ground corn meals that you might use for polenta or grits will give a very unpleasant texture in a batter.
• Oil for deep frying – I recommend a neutral oil with a fairly high smoke point. You are going to fry at about 350F, so look for oils like peanut, canola, or safflower oil, all of which have much higher smoke points.

Preparation Notes

• Skewers – I like to use long, thin bamboo skewers designed for grilling meats on the barbecue for my corn dogs. Especially when cooking for kids, I try to avoid using metal skewers because I hate the idea of an excited kid grabbing that corn dog hot off of the plate and burning their hand on the metal. While bamboo skewers are usually soaked in water before grilling, you don’t want to do that when deep frying. Water in the bamboo will cause the hot oil to pop and spatter.
• Dutch oven or large pot – It’s important to make sure that you use a vessel large enough to fit the entire corn dog and stick into the oil.
• Put your batter in a tall glass! – This makes dipping your corn dogs a lot easier and keeps your fingers clean. When you dip your corn dogs in the batter, try to make sure that you cover the entire hot dog, and a bit of the skewer at the bottom. A complete coating keeps the hot oil from getting under the batter and separating it from the hot dog inside.

Fun and Easy Corn Dogs at Home

Course: 4th of July, Appetizers, Beef, Labor Day, Main Dishes, Memorial Day, Recipe, SummerCuisine: American

Servings

8

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

Corn Dogs are easy to make at home, a lot of fun to eat, and great for all of your summer fun days.

Ingredients

• 8 skinless hot dogs

• 1 1/4 cup finely ground cornmeal

• 1 1/2 cup flour

• 2 Tbsp sugar

• 1 Tsp baking powder

• 1/2 Tsp salt

• 1 1/2 cup buttermilk

• 2 eggs

• 1 Tbsp melted butter

• 1/2 Tsp hot sauce, optional

• Vegetable oil for deep frying

Directions

• Insert skewers lengthwise into the hot dogs, about 2/3 of the way. You want to make sure the length of your hot dogs and skewers will fit completely into your pot of oil. Set aside.
• Whisk together your dry ingredients.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together your buttermilk, eggs, melted butter, and hot sauce.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet and combine. Whisk out any lumps.
• Heat 2 inches of vegetable oil in a dutch oven to 350F.
• Pour the batter into a tall glass. When the oil is at temperature, dip your hot dogs into the batter, and cover completely.
• Drop directly into the oil and fry in batches 3-4 minutes, turning halfway. Drain corn dogs on paper towels or a rack.

I love to see what you’re cooking. Tag me at #jessiescozykitchen or @jessiescozykitchen on Facebook and Instagram!