Mini Corn Dogs are amazingly easy to make and a perfect treat for any time – think of the delicious food that you munch on at the fair and arts festivals! These mini corn dogs are, as the name suggests, a mini version of the ever-popular corn dogs from the fair and arts festivals, but in the comfort of your home.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Taste and freshness: Homemade mini corn dogs are often fresher and more flavorful than store-bought or concession stand versions. You can also control the quality of the ingredients, ensuring a delicious and satisfying end result.
- Family fun: Preparing mini corn dogs can be a fun activity to enjoy with friends or family members. Also, it's a great way to introduce children to cooking an easy and tasty treat and encourage their involvement in the kitchen.
- Nostalgia: Corn dogs are a classic comfort food and can evoke memories of childhood, carnivals, and fairs. Making them at home allows you to recreate that experience and share it with others.
- Party food: Corn dogs make excellent finger food for parties or gatherings. They're easy to serve and eat, and their novelty and fun presentation can be a conversation starter.
Ingredients: Here's What You'll Need
You won't believe how easy it is to make these tasty treats using ingredients that you probably already have on hand.
- The Dry Ingredients: The dry ingredients are the same as you would use to make cornbread: All-purpose flour, cornmeal, granulated sugar (just a bit), baking powder, and salt.
- The Wet Ingredients: The wet ingredients are just an egg and some buttermilk.
- The Star of the Show: Hotdogs are the star of the show. Use your favorite hotdog here.
- Wooden Skewers: You need to be very careful if you use wooden skewers with a pointed end. If you're going to be serving these to children, you should probably break off the pointed end to avoid injury.
Note: Because it's just the two of us, the ingredients above are for half the recipe. The full recipe is shown below.
Steps to Preparing the Ingredients
There are two preps necessary for making these delicious mini corn dogs: Preparing the hotdogs and preparing the corn dog batter.
- First, I cut the hot dogs in half. Then, I inserted a wooden skewer into each hot dog halve.
- Next, I made the corn dog batter. I whisked together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large measuring cup. You could also use a bowl here.
- Then, I added an egg and buttermilk to the dry ingredients and whisked everything together to produce a smooth batter.
- Finally, I poured the corn dog batter into a tall glass to make it easier to coat the skewered hot dogs.
I wish that I had thought of this myself, but it's actually a trick from Alton Brown! It makes all the difference in terms of the ease of coating hot dogs.
Making the Easy Mini Corn Dogs
With everything ready, I started by heating about 2 inches of vegetable oil to 375°F in my electric fryer. You could also use a Dutch oven or large saucepan with a fitted thermometer here.
Once the oil had reached temperature, I dipped the skewered hot dog into the corn dog batter, making sure that the entire surface was covered.
Then, I carefully placed the coated hot dog into the hot oil and repeated this with two more coated skewered hot dogs. I didn't want to crowd the pan here.
I fried the mini corn dogs for 4 to 5 minutes until they were golden brown. What was interesting here was that they turned themselves!
Once the mini corn dogs were golden brown, I removed them from the oil. I placed them on a paper towel-lined plate to drain and repeated the process with the remaining hot dogs.
I served the Easy Mini Corn Dogs with some ketchup and mustard. Every bite brought back memories of the fair and arts festivals.
These Mini Corn Dogs are perfect for parties, family get-togethers, quick snacks, and any time you want a tasty treat. Yum!
Frequently Asked Questions
The best type of hot dog is the one that you like the most. I used regular-sized hot dogs. However, the Master Taste Tester commented that the thinner hot dogs, i.e., the bun-sized hot dogs, might have been better.
These mini corn dogs are best eaten when made. However, I routinely re-heat the leftovers at 350°F for 15 minutes with great success.
I used 6-inch bamboo skewers in this recipe. You could also use food-grade Popsicle sticks or food-grade lollipop sticks.
I like to serve the mini corn dogs as an appetizer. However, they can also be served with the following:
Copycat Heinz Beans
Crispy Mojo Potatoes
Crispy Smashed Parmesan Potatoes
Creamy Southern Cole Slaw
Classic Southern Macaroni Salad
Susan's Easy Stovetop Mac & Cheese
Plain old Ketchup and Mustard!
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- I wish that I had been the one to think of adding the corn dog batter to a tall glass. However, it's actually a trick from Alton Brown! It makes all the difference in terms of the ease of coating hot dogs.
- It's important to choose the right hot dogs for this recipe that have a good balance of meat and fat for a better-tasting end product.
- When frying the corn dogs, make sure that you don't crowd the pan and that the corn dogs don't touch one another. That way, you can ensure a smooth coating on the outside of the corn dogs.
- It's important to preheat the oil to the proper temperature and to maintain a consistent temperature. to prevent the corn dogs from becoming greasy. Also, it's important to use enough oil to fully submerge the corn dogs, but not too much such that the oil will overflow when adding the corn dogs.
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Easy Mini Corn Dogs
Ingredients
- 1 pound (16-ounces) hot dogs of your choice
- 16 Wooden skewers (See Tip 1)
- 1 cup (5 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (6 ounces) yellow cornmeal
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup (8 ounces) buttermilk (See Tips 2 and 3)
- Vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Thoroughly dry the hot dogs and cut them in half. Place the hot dogs on a wooden skewer. (See Tip 4)
- Whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the egg and buttermilk and whisk to combine. Pour the batter into a tall glass to make dipping the skewered hot dogs easier. Allow the batter to sit for 15-20 minutes.
- Heat 2 to 3 inches of oil to 375°F. Working in batches, dip each skewered hot dog into the batter and turn to evenly coat. Carefully add coated hot dog hot oil. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until golden brown. (See Tips 5 and 6)
- Remove from oil and drain on paper towels.
Video
Tips/Notes
- You need to be very careful if you use wooden skewers with pointed ends. If you're going to be serving these to children, you should probably break off the pointed end to avoid injury.
- You can make your own buttermilk by adding 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup of milk. Stir and let sit for about 5 minutes.
- If the batter is too thick, add another tablespoon or two of the buttermilk.
- You can also use food-grade popsicle sticks or lollipop sticks. Just make sure that what you use is food-grade.
- The reason for working in batches is to ensure a consistent temperature of the oil.
- I used an electric fryer. You can also use a Dutch oven or large saucepan with a thermometer to ensure a consistent temperature of the oil.
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