Corn Dogs
Hot dogs on sticks dipped in a sweet cornmeal batter and deep fried until the coating is crisp and hollow-sounding. State fair food, done properly at home.
Photograph credit: Corn dog by Tasy Hong · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
The batter has to be thick enough to cling to a wet sausage, which means a tall narrow jar rather than a bowl: you dip and lift in one motion and gravity does the coating for you. Drying the sausages first is the difference between batter that stays on and batter that slides off in the oil.
Photograph credit: Corn dog 001 by Ocdp · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
The Method for Corn Dogs
Tap a step to highlight it, or turn on Cook Mode for large type and step-by-step focus.
-
Push a skewer three-quarters of the way into each hot dog. Pat them dry and dust lightly with the 3 tablespoons of flour — this gives the batter something to grip.
-
Whisk the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and mustard powder in a bowl.
-
Beat the egg with the buttermilk and honey, pour into the dry ingredients and whisk just until smooth. Let it stand 10 minutes to hydrate.
-
Pour the batter into a tall glass or jar — it should be deep enough to submerge a hot dog.
-
Heat the oil to 180°C / 355°F in a deep pan. Use a thermometer; this is a small window.
-
Dip a hot dog into the batter, twisting as you lift so the coating settles evenly, then lower it straight into the oil, holding the stick for the first few seconds so it does not sink.
-
Fry 3 to 4 minutes, turning once, until deep golden and hollow-sounding when tapped.
-
Drain on a rack, not paper, and fry the rest in batches of two. Serve hot with mustard.
Something wrong or unclear in this recipe? Report a problem with this recipe.
Worth Getting Right
- A tall jar, not a bowl. It is the only way to get an even coat.
- Dry sausages, dusted with flour. Wet ones shed their batter into the oil.
- 180°C / 355°F exactly — cooler and the coating soaks up oil, hotter and it browns before it sets.
Swaps and Variations
- Out of buttermilk? The usual stand-in is a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar stirred into 250 ml of ordinary milk and left five minutes; it is thinner than cultured buttermilk, so a batter may need a little less of it.
Serve It With
Yellow mustard · Fries · Lemonade
Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Buttermilk Biscuits, New York Bagels, Creamy Coleslaw.
Storage
Best eaten within minutes. Reheat leftovers at 190°C / 374°F fan for 8 minutes; never the microwave.
Nutrition per Serving
No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.
Your notes on this recipe
Cooked this? Keep a note for next time
Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
You Might Also Like
More American cooking and quick meals ideas from Weekly Delight.
Air Fryer Chicken Tenders
Chicken strips in a seasoned panko crust, sprayed with oil and cooked at 190°C until golden and crunchy…
Honey Garlic Pork Chops
Pork chops seared in a pan and glazed with a sauce of honey, garlic and soy. Four servings in 25 minutes.
Honey Garlic Shrimp Stir Fry
Shrimp and broccoli stir-fried for 8 minutes in a glossy honey, soy and garlic sauce and served over rice.
Tuna Rice Bowl
Warm rice topped with tinned tuna mixed with mayonnaise and soy sauce, cucumber and a fried egg. Two servings in 20…
Sausage Hash
Diced potatoes crisped in a pan with sausage, onion and pepper, then topped with a fried egg. Four servings in 30…
Seared Ahi Tuna
Sesame-crusted tuna steaks seared for a minute on each side, so they are cooked outside and raw and ruby-red in the…