Honey-battered, hand-dipped Corn Dogs are a real treat. Watch the video tutorial and see how easy it is to make homemade corn dogs from scratch.
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We love hand-dipped corn dogs at fairs, carnivals, and of course Disney, but some of our favorite carnival foods like Churros, sweet Corn on the Cob and of course these corn dogs, are so easy to re-create at home. If you’re looking for fun, family-friendly recipes, these Corn Dogs are a must-try!
Corn Dog Video Tutorial:
Corn dogs are essentially cornbread batter + hot dogs. This homemade Corn Dog Recipe has the best honey batter. They are fried to perfection with a crisp exterior and a soft cornbread inside that keeps the sausage juicy.
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Why You will Love These Corn Dogs:
- Simple batter – no waiting for the batter to chill. You can use it right away.
- Make-ahead option – you can make the batter 1 to 2 days ahead if you want to. You can also store extra batter to fry something fresh the next day.
- Skip the corn starch – dipping the hot dogs in corn starch is an unnecessary step. Drying the corn dogs with paper towels is enough to make the batter stick.
- Freezer friendly – you can make these, cool to room temperature then freeze in a freezer-safe Ziploc bag.
- Reheats well – You can defrost in the refrigerator or for 30 seconds in the microwave then pop them in the air fryer or sautee on a skillet until crisp on the outside.
Ingredients for Homemade Corndogs:
Since this recipe doesn’t have many ingredients, so buy the best quality hot dogs (get your favorites).
- Hot Dogs – We highly recommend using simple hot dogs – either beef, chicken or turkey hot dogs will do. If using longer-sized hot dogs, keep in mind they will need to fit the diameter of your pot to fry once your stick is on. Also, very thick hot dogs won’t heat through as well.
- Corn Meal – get “finely ground”
- Flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt – pantry basics that help form the batter and make it fluffy.
- Buttermilk and oil – adds flavor and moisture to the batter
- Egg – helps batter hold together.
- Honey – adds sweetness to create a honey batter
How to Make Corn Dogs:
Making corn dogs is easier and takes less time than you think! Here is a visual reference for the process. Watch the video recipe above and you’ll have this recipe memorized in no time.
- Pat Dry Hot Dogs with paper towels to help the batter to stick better.
- Insert Sticks – skewer hot dogs make sure the length fits your pot)
- Dry Ingredients – whisk together cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- Wet Ingredients – whisk together buttermilk, egg, olive oil, and honey.
- Combine Batter – pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and whisk until blended.
- Dip Hot Dogs and Fry – Batter the corn dogs to completely cover the hot dog, let excess drip off at the edge then Fry 2-3 at a time at 350˚F for 3 minutes until golden brown.
Pro Tip: Use a tall drinking glass and a funnel to keep things tidy while filling with batter. Fill it almost full, leaving enough room to dip the corn dog without overflowing the cup.
The Best Sticks for Corn Dogs:
You can use a variety of sticks (even popsicle sticks). The most important thing is to make sure the skewered corn dog will fit easily into your frying pot. Avoid sticks that have sharp points or are too long. You can use:
- Multi-Use Skewers 6.5″ (the ones we used, pictured in the center)
- Corn Dog Sticks 8″-8.75″ (pictured on the right)
- Candy Apple Sticks 5″ to 5.5″ (pictured on the left)
How to Keep Corn Dogs from Cracking:
Air bubbles cause corn dogs to crack and burst. The right technique is important. Dip straight down until hot dog is fully coated. Twirl in the glass and swirl as you pull up. If you see gaps in the dough or big bubbles then re-dip. Also, make sure to maintain the right oil temperature at 350˚F.
Common Questions:
Look for fine yellow corn meal. Avoid “coarse” or “medium” ground cornmeal as that will be too large of granules and won’t work. I have found that if the cornmeal packaging doesn’t say what texture it is, most often it is finely ground.
A deep fryer can be tricky because the corn dogs are more likely to stick to the fryer basket. Make sure you carefully hold the corn dog in the oil at an angle for 5-7 seconds to seal the exterior before dropping them into the basket. Watch the video to see this in action.
Nope. Coating in starch is an unnecessary and messy step. Patting the hot dogs thoroughly is enough to help the batter stick to the hot dogs.
We heat the oil to 350˚F and use a clip-on thermometer to maintain a steady temperature. You want to keep the oil between 340˚-360˚ while frying.
Our favorite oil for frying is peanut oil. Canola oil is also a great option.
Serve as a main course or snack with the classic dipping sauces of ketchup and mustard.
Have Extra Batter Left Over?
Use the extra batter to dip mini sausages, little smokies or cocktail sausages to make mini corndogs. Use a toothpick to dip and fry then remove the toothpicks before serving.
Hand dipped corn dogs satisfy the craving for carnival food when you aren’t able to get to the carnival or state fair to enjoy it. They are also really fun to make!
More Kid-Friendly Recipes to try:
If you love this Corn Dog Recipe, then you won’t want to miss these family-friendly recipes.
- Pizza – try our pizza dough for any pizza
- Cheeseburger Sliders – easy and great for parties
- Chicken Sandwiches – crispy with the best sauce
- Chicken Nuggets – a copycat recipe
- Brownies – fudgy and decadent
Homemade Corn Dogs Recipe
Ingredients
For the Corn Dogs:
- 12 hot dogs, we used turkey hot dogs
- 12 sticks
- Peanut oil, canola oil, or vegetable oil for frying
- Ketchup and mustard to serve
Batter Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups fine yellow corn meal
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 3/4 cups buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- 1 Tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
- 1 Tbsp honey
Instructions
- Pour 2-3” of oil in a large pot or dutch oven and heat to 350˚F over medium heat.
- Pat dry with paper towels. Insert sticks into hot dogs.
- Whisk together dry ingredients (corn meal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt). Whisk together wet ingredients (buttermilk, egg, 1 Tbsp oil and honey). Combine wet and dry ingredients and whisk to combine.
- Pour batter into a drinking glass almost to the top and dip hot dogs. Put corndog straight down into batter and give it a little twirl to fully coat the hot dogs then swirl as you lift up. Let excess drip off.
- Hold corn dog at an angle in the hot oil for 5-7 seconds to let it seal then drop into oil (this keeps them from sticking to the bottom of the pot).
- Fry 3 minutes or until golden brown. Fry up to 2-3 at a time (so you don’t drop the temperature), turning them as needed to brown evenly. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
Can i just bake the batter for corn bread?
Hi Charlotte, I haven’t tried that myself to advise, but I bet that could work! One of my readers wrote: “. I made corn bread with the left over bater and it turn out nice. Will definitely make them again.” I hope this helps!
I spent today reading about health and nutrition and celebrated it by trying out this wonderful recipe with my family. Top notch! I confess I deleted the sugar and honey and substituted the milk for dark beer, but the preparation notes were good as gold. I used the excess to make pumpkin flower fritters with flowers fresh from the garden. Yum.
Hi Gabe, nice to know that the recipe was a success! Thank you so much for sharing your feedback with us.
I just mixed up my batter and it’s definitely too thick. What can I do to make it thinner? HELP! thanks
Hi Sarah, make sure to measure ingredients correctly so you don’t end up with too much flour. Also, if the corn dogs are not dipping properly, to thin out the batter, you can add buttermilk a little bit at a time until you reach your desired consistency. I hope you love the recipe!
Yummy! But I found they cooked a little better, for me, at 300°. They stayed nice and holden with the hot dog hot inside. Great light, fluffy crust! Will make again.
Hello Kim, thanks for sharing that with us. Great to hear that it turned out well!
The recipe was great. I left out the sugar, I mean, this is not a sweet dish and it already has honey which is much healthier. I also used 1/3 grits so the texture was crunchier/better.
I would have given this a 5 but the problem lies in the deep frying.
What they don’t tell you is you need a very deep, deep fryer. You actually have to be able to submerge the corn dog completely. After making several exploding corn dogs we cut up the remaining dogs so they were shorter and dipped them completely in the peanut oil and let them go after a few seconds. they worked perfectly and no longer exploded and shed off the coating.
Too bad the video didn’t work or we might have seen that from the beginning.
Hi Sally, you definitely want the corn dog fully submerged in oil and it’s a good idea to pre-meausure the length of the corndog with the stick to make sure your pot is large enough. I’m glad your mini corndogs worked out. Those are also fun to make.
Quite the review you have here. It’s common sense that you would need to fully submerge the corndog in order to properly cook it. Why would you need a video to tell you that? Would you expect a pancake to cook completely on both sides without flipping it? Unless you’re cooking in an oven or air fryer, it’s a pretty basic understanding that battered items need to come in direct contact with whatever cooking medium you’re using, whether that’s oil, a griddle or frying pan.
It’s common sense that you would need to fully submerge the corndog in order to properly cook it. Why would you need a video to tell you that? Would you expect a pancake to cook completely on both sides without flipping it? Unless you’re cooking in an oven or air fryer, it’s a pretty basic understanding that battered items need to come in direct contact with whatever cooking medium you’re using, whether that’s oil, a griddle or frying pan.
I am not used to this kind of flavour (being Croatian) but for my taste it is overly sweet. Also, I am not sure what I did wrong, but my mixture came out too runny. Too bad, I was very excited.
Hi Ana, I’m glad you gave corn dogs a try! I’m curious if you possibly used baking soda instead of baking powder? I hope you give it another try soon!
For the extra batter use mozzarella sticks the same way you do with the hot dogs do with the mozzarella sticks it’s really good
Yum! Great idea! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Great recipe!! Made for the kids and they love it. Used the half today and another meal tomorrow! Thank you
Glad you enjoyed this recipe, Gam. I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Hello! We made them today the farm in Sweden! Three families ate them and loved them! They were SO easy and SO good. Tomorrow we are trying them with little sausages and also, one of the men suggested that the leftover batter could be “piffed up” with some chopped onions and shredded cheese and fried like hushpuppies to serve with chili. Thanks for a great recipe!
Yum! the possibilities are endless! I’m so glad you all enjoyed this recipe!
Hi Natasha! I made these for my kids and they are only 8 and 5 years old and they had 3 of them! They told me they were so good. Now when they asked for the third one, I was like…uh-uh if ya’ll asking for thirds then I need to try it. And guess what…I tried them and they were so good! Now I see why my kids like them so much! Thanks! DEFINITELY WILL BE MAKING THESE AGAIN!! I have a suggestion, can you make spicy sweet and sour sauce please? Thanks! I think next I will make your spaghetti and meatballs! Thanks again! 🙂 😀 😉
That is the best when kids love what we moms make. That’s so great!
Do we use cooked or uncooked sausages? Thanks! 🙂
Hi Amirah, we used hot dogs, which are cooked.
Do we use cooked or uncooked sausages? Thanks! 🙂 😀
Hi Carmen, we used hot dogs, which are cooked.
Ok then I will used cooked. Thanks! 🙂
That is weird tho because my dad uses the same hot dogs and puts them in boiling water to cook….but you said they are already cooked….that’s weird. But thanks anyway! 🙂 😀 😉
Hot dogs are generally fully cooked, but you prepare them to your liking. Usually, people like to boil them or grill them. For example, you can buy a brick of cheese and simply open it and eat it. Or, you can slice it and make grilled cheese. On the other hand, sausage can be either fully cooked or raw. You can usually tell if it is raw, but if it is fully cooked then it should say so on the packaging.
Natasha can I substitute cornmeal with any other flour
Hi Asantha, I haven’t tried any other substitute or flour to advise if it would turn out the same.
Hi Natasha! I am new to your channel/website. I have been missing out because I love it here! I do have a question tho, do we use cooked or uncooked sausages? I wanna make these for my kids because they look kid-friendly for sure! Also have some suggestions, can you make a spicy chicken sandwich and turtle candies please? Me and my husband and kids LOVE spicy chicken sandwiches and our family is big on chocolate and we NEED the recipe for turtle candies!!! Thanks! Love you and your recipes! Bye! 🙂 😀
Hi Catherine, we used hot dogs for this recipe. Hot dogs are typically already fully cooked. All you need to do is reheat them.. Also, I have a Chicken Sandwich Recipe HERE, just doubled the cayenne & hot sauce to spice it up.
Love the flavor and they were pretty easy. I had one issue with the batter being thick, any suggestions as too why? Too much corn meal or flour?
Hi Hayley, it’s probably how the ingredients were measured. Did you use any substitute ingredients? I recommend checking out the list again and making sure that everything was measured correctly. This video and guide on How to Measure Ingredients can also help.
This recipe is the best! I made this since my kids love hot dogs and wanted to try another way for them to eat them, plus I wanted to give it a try! Besides, I love cooking different stuff every time I can. Let me tell you, everyone at home loved them, even my parents who are not fans of hot dogs. Thanks for always sharing delicious recipe with us! 🙂
That is the best when kids love what we parents make. That’s so great! Thank you so much for sharing this with me, Gigi!
I just made these . Perfect! I used left over batter and added a can of drained corn and shredded cheese. Dipped them with an ice cream scoop! Best ones ever!
Awesome! Thanks for your lovely comments and feedback, April. I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe!
I’m going to make these tonight (can’t wait!).
I was just wondering if the left over batter will still be good tomorrow or the day after?
Thank you!
I love all your recipes and videos!
=)
Sounds like a good plan, Jena. You can make the batter 1 to 2 days ahead if you want to. You can also store extra batter to fry something fresh the next day.
Its really good,I also have ur video of the hamburger recipe pls send me more recipe, I but down my email
Hi Ruth, you may subscribe to our emails here.
May I ask what turkey hot dog brand you use?
Also, I plan on making these ahead and then reheating them in the air fryer. Can you tell me how long it takes approximately and the temperature in the air fryer to heat through?
Hi Dimple, I have experimented with different ones. I believe this was the Oscar Meyer brand.
First off I’d like to say i love how much detail you give in the video, recipe and comments. Also how you let your child help amd be in the video. Awesome job mama.
I’ve made this recipe twice now. Because I never have buttermilk on hand I use milk with lemon juice. The first time i made these, the batter was very thin and it cracked.
I decided to give it another try and this time I paid more attention to the consistency. I had to add maybe 1/4 to 1/2 cup more flour to my batter for it to have a better consistency.
I also doubled the recipe because I cook for 10. I made about 24 hot dogs and yet there was still so much batter left over. I could have possibly stayed with one batch.
But the taste is amazing and everything turned out well, thank you for sharing your recipe.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me. I’m so glad it worked out for you!