Our very favorite gluten free corn dogs are found at the Reading Terminal in Philadelphia at Fox and Son where everything is naturally gluten free! All the other times we get a hankering for a good corn dog, we turn to this recipe. The batter is sweet and has the best corn flavor. We end up frying corn dogs, mozzarella sticks, and hush puppies all with the same batter. It's a huge treat for the kiddos and adults alike!
Homemade Mini Corn Dogs
Serves 4-6
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2⁄3 cup corn flour
1⁄3 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
3⁄4 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1 package of small smoked sausages (we use Hillshire Farms L'il Smokies)
2 quarts vegetable oil (for frying)
Line a rimmed baking sheet with paper towels for draining corn dogs. Remove sausages from their package and dry completely with paper towels. Heat oil in a 10"-12" heavy pot over medium heat until temperature reaches 350°. Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl and make a well in the center. Whisk together egg and buttermilk in the well and combine with dry ingredients, mixing until smooth. Roll sausages in some corn flour, then dip into batter, coating completely, and fry in batches of 3 for 2–3 minutes, turning halfway through fry time, until deep golden brown on all sides. Drain corn dogs on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining sausages.
*You can use any remaining batter to make fried cheese by cutting string cheese sticks into fourths, coating in batter, and frying until golden brown. You can also use batter for hush puppies by dropping in batter by itself with a cookie scoop. We love hush puppies with honey!
Step-by-step tutorial:
Gather your ingredients. You will need cornmeal, corn flour, corn starch (starting to see a theme here?😂), buttermilk, an egg, sugar, baking powder, vegetable oil, and small smoked sausages. You could also use regular hot dogs and just cut them into thirds. We love the flavor of the smokies!
Remove the sausages from the package and dry off with paper towels. This helps the batter to stick.
To make the batter, you will need to whisk together 1 cup cornmeal, 2/3 cup corn flour, 1/3 cup corn starch, 1 teaspoon salt........
.....3/4 teaspoon baking powder, and 2 tablespoons sugar. Whisk until combined.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add 1 egg and 1 cup buttermilk. Beat the egg and buttermilk together, then whisk into dry ingredients. Set aside.
In a large pot or saucepan, heat 2 quarts of oil to 350°F. Roll the sausages in some corn flour, then dip in the batter and immediately place into the hot oil. We have found that coating them first in the dry flour also allows the batter to stick better. If you are having a hard time with the batter not staying on the hot dogs, add a little more buttermilk if it's too thick, or a little more corn flour if it's too thin. You want just the right consistency.
Once they have cooked in the hot oil a few minutes, remove from oil and drain on prepared pan with paper towels. Continue rolling, dipping, then frying in batches of 3 until you've done them all. Be sure to constantly check your oil temperature and adjust accordingly to keep it around 350°F.
These golden corn dogs are SO YUMMY! Even better than one you would eat at a carnival or amusement park.
We always have extra batter, so we cut string cheese (mozzarella cheese sticks) into fourths, dip them in the batter, and fry them. They fry faster, so just watch for that golden color.
The fried cheese is awesome dipped into pizza sauce!
You can also cook extra batter by itself by scooping into the oil with your smallest cookie scoop. These "hush puppies" as they are called in the south are golden nuggets of deliciousness, and are so good dipped in honey!
But these mini corn dogs steal the show at our house! We dip them in ketchup or fry sauce (a 1:1 combination of ketchup and mayonnaise) and everything can be eaten with fingers! No utensils required!
Recipe Source: Recipe adapted from a recipe on Saveur.com