Make Corn Dogs
Corn dogs are popular fair food, and for good reason: the crunchy cornmeal crust pairs perfectly with the juicy hot dog within. Mounting them on a stick creates a portable treat you can eat while walking. Read on for a corn dog recipe you can make at home.
Contents
Ingredients
- 8 wooden skewers or craft sticks
- 8 hot dogs
- 1 cup ground yellow cornmeal
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 large eggs
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 2 quarts vegetable oil, for frying
- Ketchup and mustard
Steps
Get the Ingredients Ready
- Skewer the hot dogs. Open the package of hot dogs, rinse them off, and pat them dry with a paper towel. Hold a hot dog in one hand and place a skewer at its tip. Push the skewer carefully through the length of the hot dog, stopping about {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} from the other end. Repeat with the remaining hot dogs.
- Try to get the skewer to slide straight through the hot dog, so it doesn't poke out through the side.
- If your hot dogs are heavy, you might want to slide the skewer closer to the other tip.
- Make the batter. In a large mixing bowl, mix the cornmeal, flour, baking powder and salt. Use a whisk to combine the ingredients well. Pour in the milk, eggs and sugar. Whisk the batter until it is smooth with very few lumps.
- Pour the batter into a tall glass or mason jar. This makes the corn dogs easier to coat evenly with batter.
- Heat the oil. Pour the oil into a large dutch oven or stockpot. Place it on a burner and turn the heat to medium high. Heat the oil until it reaches 360 degrees. Test to see whether the oil is ready to fry by using a candy thermometer.
- If you don't have a candy thermometer, place the handle of a wooden spoon in the oil; if you see bubbles rising from the spoon, the oil is ready.
- Be sure not to fry the corn dogs until the oil is ready. If you try, the batter will simply fall off the dogs.
Fry the Corn Dogs
- Batter a corn dog. Hold a corn dog by the end of the wooden skewer. Insert it dog-side down into the jar of batter. Twist the dog to fully coat it with batter, then remove it from the jar.
- Place the battered corn dog in the oil. Set the corn dog into the hot oil. It's fine if the wooden skewer gets completely submerged. Fry the corn dog for 1 1/2 minutes, then use tongs to turn it over and continue frying for another 1 1/2 minutes. The corn dog is ready when it is golden brown on each side.
- Drain the corn dog. Lift the corn dog from the oil and place it on a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Repeat the process with the remaining corn dogs.
- If you want to keep the corn dogs warm while the others are cooking, place the cooked corn dogs on a baking sheet and put the sheet in an oven heated to 200 degrees.
- Be careful when you lift the corn dog from the oil; it tends to splatter.
- Serve the corn dogs hot. Use ketchup and mustard as condiments.
Try Fun Variations
- Make mini corn dogs. Sometimes a full-sized corn dog is a lot for one stomach to handle. Mini corn dogs are perfect for kids' birthday parties. Buy mini hot dogs or cut full-sized hot dogs in half, then skewer them, batter them and fry them the same way you would full-sized dogs.
- Make shrimp corn dogs. Who says corn dog batter has to be used only for hot dogs? Most meats and vegetables taste great fried in the crispy cornmeal batter. If you can put it on a skewer, you can make it into a crunchy corn treat. If you're using shrimp, make sure it's peeled and de-veined first, then skewer it in two places (so it won't fall off), bread it, and fry it according to the instructions.
- Play around with different condiments to serve with shrimp corn dogs, like cocktail sauce instead of ketchup.
- Make Make Hush Puppies with the extra batter - they're the perfect complement to any seafood.
- Make veggie corn dogs. Make the vegetarians in your life happy by choosing dogs made from soy or another meat substitute. If you'd prefer not to use faux meat, you can also batter-fry onion slices, sweet potato wedges, broccoli florets, or pieces of cauliflower.
- Try baking instead of frying. For a healthier version of this treat, you can bake them in the oven instead of deep frying them. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lay the corn dogs on a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Place the pan in the oven and bake the corn dogs for 20 minutes, or until they turn deep golden brown. Remove them from the oven and cool for a few minutes before eating.
- Finished.
Tips
- Make your corn dogs and have a little Coney Island party! Make carnival games and goodie bags, and serve lemonade and ice cream with your corn dogs!
- Leftover batter can be fried to be make mini cornbread patties.
- Ensure your cornbread batter is slightly thick to help the batter stay on the hot dogs.
- This recipe can work with almond milk as well.
Warnings
- Whenever you are working with hot oil, be very careful! Use oven mitts.
Things You'll Need
- Oven mitts
- Popsicle sticks or skewers
- Big pot for frying
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