This is a recipe for some of the finest corn dogs you can have. Don’t be afraid of the “gluten free” label; these are just as good if not better than any corn dogs you can have. I may still tweak the recipe to give them more of a “bite” as these were a little more tender than they needed to be.
Hot Dogs
16 hot dogs - Select quality, skinless hot dogs such as Nathan’s.
Pack of sticks — can be bamboo round sticks or slightly flattened, small popsicle sticks.
3 parts corn starch + 1 part rice flour (or all corn starch) — this is to coat the hot dogs and not to be mixed with the dry ingredients
Dry Ingredients
1 1/2 cups mixed “Corn Flour” — For this, I used 1/4 c arepa flour (P.A.N.), 1/4 c cornstarch, and 1 c Dixie Corn Meal
1 cup King Arthur Gluten Free Flour
1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp salt (more if you like)
1/2 tsp onion powder
(optional) 1 tbsp sugar
Wet Ingredients
2 cups mixed milk (e.g, 1 cup heavy cream; 1 cup whole milk)
2 eggs
2 tbsp grapeseed oil
3 tbsp Honey
Mixing
Whisk all the dry ingredients together. Separately whisk all of the wet ingredients together. Then, combine the wet with the dry together. The batter should be of the consistency of a waffle batter — slightly thick, but not a paste. You can add a little more milk to thin if necessary. If too thin, you can add more arepa flour. You’ll know you have the right consistency when the batter clings nicely to the hot dog.
Transfer the batter to 1 or more tall glasses. You want the height of the glass to be taller than the hot dog.
Cooking
Heat a deep fryer to 350-375F. You need to make sure the hot dog + stick will fit into the deep fryer. Do this before the oil gets hot just in case you need a plan b.
Dunking the hot dogs. Start by skewering the hot dogs with the stick. Pat the hot dogs dry with a paper towel. Once dry, coat the hot dogs with the 3:1 cornstarch:rice flower. Use your hands to coat them thoroughly, but wipe them down so the coating is very light over the entire hot dog. Once you have hot dog coated, dunk the hot dog into the batter / tall glass to coat the entire hot dog. As you pull the hot dog up (and assuming you used round bamboo skewers), you should be able to spin the hot dog by rolling the skewer between your fingers. This will give you a nice even coating of batter. If this doesn’t work out, do not worry, all will be fine.
Once you batter your dog, you want to quickly place the battered corn dog into the oil. Do this with caution, of course. Holding the corn dog by the stick, gently lower into the oil. If you have a deep fryer. hold the corn dog for a few seconds to let the batter expand. This will help the corn dog float. Let go of the corn dog and it should sink for a second and then rise to the surface. Ideally, you will cook all sides of the corn dog. In reality, one side will point up and it will be a constant challenge to cook all sides. If you let the corn dog cook for a few minutes, the batter will firm up and you can roll it over with tongs and hold the lighter side down.
The corn dog is done when it is dark golden. Potentially 3-5 minutes depending on how much oil volume you have and how much the temperature drops when you add the corn dog. Cook the first and give it a taste. All you need is the batter cooked all the way through.
Cook them either 1 at a time (small fryer) or a few at a time. Once done, drain and cool them on a wire rack placed in a hotel pan or use paper towels. I like the cooling rack to avoid any sogginess.
That’s pretty much it. Let them cool a while. The stick will be quite hot. Dunk in some mustard and pretend you are walking at a fair while you enjoy them.
