Homemade Corn Dogs
This Corn Dog Recipe is a classic fair treat that’s easy to make at home! Mix together a quick cornmeal batter, dip the hot dogs, and fry for a few minutes until golden brown.
It’s amazing how much of a role nostalgia plays with food, isn’t it?
When I make these homemade corn dogs, all I think about is how much I have always loved gnawing the extra little bit of cornbread batter off the bottom of the stick, and I’ve done it ever since I was a kid. Because corn dogs are really about the cornbread batter, if you ask me.
There’s also Homemade Soft Pretzels which remind me so much of the pretzel kiosks at the mall (but so much better homemade), or Homemade Fruit Rollups like the ones I devoured as a child, but made with better ingredients.
If you’ve never made homemade corn dogs before, I think you’ll be surprised by how easy it is. The cornbread batter takes less than 5 minutes to mix together, and then you just have to dip some hot dogs in the batter and fry for a few minutes until golden.
How to Make Homemade Corn Dogs:
Mix together the dry ingredients, which includes cornmeal, flour, leavening, sugar, salt, and a little nutmeg:
Always give the dry ingredients a little whisk to combine and evenly distribute the ingredients:
Mix the dry ingredients with buttermilk and eggs, and stir until the flour disappears.
It’s okay to leave some lumps in there, as you want to keep from overmixing.
Skewer your hot dogs on wooden sticks and roll the hot dogs in flour. Shake off any excess:
Transfer the cornbread batter to a tall glass and dip the floured hot dogs into the batter, coating it all over.
Fry the corn dogs at 350 degrees F for 3 minutes and serve alongside your favorite ketchup or mustard!
These would also be fun to make for football watching or game day, along with these Baked Chicken Wings, Buffalo Garlic Knots, and Stuffed Mushrooms. Enjoy!
Can you freeze homemade corn dogs? Yes, just let them cool completely and store in an airtight bag or container for up to two months.
How to reheat corn dogs: Bake in a 300F oven to re-warm, about 15 minutes from a frozen state, or 10 minutes if they’ve been thawed.
Homemade Corn Dogs
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 2 eggs
- 4 hot dogs
- all purpose flour for rolling
- vegetable or peanut oil for frying
Instructions
- Preheat the fryer to 350 degrees F.
- To make the batter, whisk to combine the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, salt, and nutmeg.
- In another small bowl, whisk to combine the buttermilk and eggs, and mix this into the dry ingredients until there are no more streaks of flour, but be sure to leave lumps in the batter (do not stir those out, as you may overmix). Transfer the batter to a tall glass.
- Skewer the hot dogs onto wooden sticks and roll the hot dogs in enough flour to coat, then shake the excess off.
- Dip the floured hot dogs into the tall cup of batter and put them straight into the fryer for about 3 minutes, but be sure not to overcrowd your fryer. Depending on size, you might need to make two or three batches. The corn dogs are ready when the exterior is golden brown.
- Serve the corn dogs with ketchup and mustard if desired, and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
Updated with new photos and writing in June 2018. Originally published in 2013.
95 Comments on “Homemade Corn Dogs”
I really like the idea of adding nutmeg. Too many times someone tries to SPICE it up and the results end up disastrous. I have never been a fan of sweet cornbread for instance, but a good corn dog must have a mildly sweet taste. Also, I raise peppers from mild to melt your hot. I like hot stuff, but with the beautifully simple corn dog, adding anything but maybe a touch of nutmeg, cloves, allspice, or maybe even anise, would be sacrilege. A tip to keep the batter from touching the sides or bottom of your frying implement is to dip the corn dog in the oil and slowly spin the skewer for about 20 seconds then hold it down with a pot or fryer id until it is done. Another unique way is to use a cordless drill on low speed like a hand mixer. Sure you can usually do one at a time, but it is so much more fun.
Totally loving the idea of making these at home.
These are my weakness!
I have a thought on cooking corn dogs and will try it myself. Last night I cooked a lobster tail in my asparagus pan (tall and narrow) might try it with the dogs. Mine is 10/18 stainless steel.
I love making “state fair” food at home! Your corn dogs are picture perfect!
so awesome!
This is such a fun recipe and I love the addition of nutmeg!
This was great fun to do at home. I did find the batter to be a little bland, however. We dipped them in honey mustard and thought adding honey to the batter beforehand would help.
Hi Gabrielle, glad you had fun making these. Adding honey to the batter sounds like a good idea if you like some sweetness there. Enjoy!
what is the name of wooden stick call
It’s a wooden skewer. Good luck!
So fun to make at home!
I wanted to use a small 8” cast iron skillet so I did not use my wooden skewers until after the corn dogs were cooked. Worked well, and was able to cook two at a time.
Hi Peggy, that’s great, thanks for sharing!
These are perfect! I love how crispy and delicious they are!
My kids will be obsessed with these corn dogs!!
Can these be frozen well after a, say, half cook??
That should be fine. Just make sure the cornmeal batter is fully set.
So good! Reminded me of the freshly made corn dogs I used to have as a child.