State Fair Corn Dogs

Love fair food like funnel cake and corn dogs? Here is how to make perfectly golden, hand-dipped corn dogs at home. Corn dogs are an American classic synonymous with carnivals. A corn dog is a hot dog on a stick that’s dipped in a thick layer of cornmeal batter and deep-fried to golden perfection.

1 quart vegetable oil for frying, plus 1 tablespoon
3/4 cup fine yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour plus additional for dredging hot dogs
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1 large egg
6 hot dogs (choose a plump, New York-Chicago dog, like Usinger's)
6 sticks (see NOTE)

1. In a medium saucepan (it must be wide enough to accommodate several hotdogs frying at once), heat oil to 375 degrees.

2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine cornmeal, 1/2 cup flour, sugar, dry mustard, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, whisk together milk, egg and the remaining tablespoon of vegetable oil. Whisk wet ingredients into dry, whisking only until lumps are gone.

A tip for dipping: Pour the batter in a tall Mason jar and dunk the dogs to create an even coating all around.

3. Pat hot dogs dry with paper towels (important for having the batter stick once cooked). Place flour for dredging on a plate. Roll a hot dog in the flour, tapping off excess. Using a fork or tongs, dip floured hot dog in batter. Drop into hot oil. (Other recipes have you insert the stick before frying.)

Fry about 3 minutes, turning to brown evenly. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels. You can fry 2 or 3 at once, but let the oil return to 375 degrees F between batches. While still hot, skewer each dog with a stick, pushing the stick about halfway up into dog. Serve immediately with ketchup and mustard.

NOTE: Your Corn Dog stick has to be solid enough to support the dog without bending or breaking. Bamboo skewers, for example, may not be firm enough. I have found the perfect Corn Dog stick right in my kitchen drawer: the chopstick. The one you choose should be a few inches longer than the hot dog, and should have a pointy end to facilitate pushing the stick into the hot dog.

Makes 6 corn dogs

Why is the batter falling off my corn dogs?

If the batter is not sticking to your corn dogs (or Korean corn dogs), there are two likely causes. The hot dogs may not have been dried fully before they were dipped in the flour and batter. Any liquid on the hot dogs will create a barrier inhibiting the flour and batter from sticking, so don’t skip this crucial step.

The consistency of your batter could also be a problem. A thin batter will slide right off the dogs, while a thick batter will not flow evenly over the hot dogs when dipped. When in doubt, add additional flour, a tablespoon at a time, to a thin batter, or additional milk, a tablespoon at a time, to a thick batter, until the desired viscosity is reached.