If you need a corndog fix until your next state fair experience, cook hot homemade corndogs with this best-ever recipe. You’ll love it.

To make these savory treats, you mix a batter that combines flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt, with cornmeal, butter, milk, and an egg.  You dip hotdogs in the batter, and fry them in hot oil. Delicious!

Corndogs are always the first food I get at the fair and I confess, it’s often for breakfast. Don’t judge me, I’m often at the Minnesota State Fair for promotions and events first thing in the morning, so the timing fits the bill. On a stick, a footlong or classic size, they are the quintessential state fair treat. You can walk and talk while you munch away. The crispy exterior tastes a bit like cornbread, just slightly sweet. Put a savory hot dog in the center of that and you’ve got a winning combination.

Since we are all about home baking and cooking, we usually leave the state fair food creations to the vendors, pro chefs/restaurants and cookbook authors. We decided to make an exception since this is simply the best corndog recipe ever!!! It came from my good friend Joyce who shared her mother’s family recipe. With a couple minor modifications, it has become our “go to” recipe for everyone’s favorite food on a stick. Here are some tips for perfect homemade corndogs.

Tips for Top Notch Corndogs

• Use this recipe…duh =)
• Buy good quality hot dogs
• Make the batter thick, but not overly so; you want it like a hefty pancake batter
• Pat those dogs completely dry; do this and the flour and batter really stick well to the dogs
• Use an oil like canola because it has a high smoke point; it won’t create smoke at high temperature
• Make sure the oil is good and hot before you make the plunge. 350 to 375 degrees F
• Use enough oil so there’s almost no temperature change when you add the dipped dog
• Cool, strain and save the oil for making another batch on another day

We filtered the cooled oil through a clean coffee filter in a sieve and refrigerated to reuse. It keeps the corndog flavor and seemed to heighten the cornmeal taste, which we loved.

Also, you can easily adapt this recipe into mini size or bite size poppers. Simply cut the dogs to preferred size and skip the sticks. You can use toothpicks if you want to keep with the “on a stick” theme. We even tried them with cocktail size dogs. All delicious.

Looking for more state fair foods to cook at home? Be sure to get George Geary’s Fair Food cookbook. It has a ton of fun recipes. Also, many restaurants and food trucks have cheese curds and corndog appetizers. So you have lots of options until your next local fair opens. Enjoy!

-Cyndi

Note: This is an edited re-post from our sister website, StateFairRecipes.com