Homemade Corn Dog Bites

Aaron loves corn dogs so we thought we'd try making them for lunch a few days ago. And I'm so glad we did! They really aren't hard to make and taste JUST like the real deal!

Aaron was right there helping me every step of the way.  Even when it came to dropping them into the oil, and he did a great job. I made sure the younger two were not in the kitchen at all during that process.

 I love sweet cornbread, but didn't think that would be the best for this recipe, so we used Betty Crocker's corn bread recipe. It's basic and perfect for these.

Corn Bread Batter

1 cup milk

1/4 melted butter or margarine

1/2 c. sugar

1 egg

1 1/4 c. cornmeal

1 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt.

Mix ingredients until just incorporated.

Cut 8 hot dogs into 3 pieces each and stick each piece with a toothpick. Pat the hot dogs dry with a paper towel if they are wet so that the batter sticks to them.

Dip each piece into the batter and drop into 1 quart hot vegetable or canola oil (see my motto about frying at the end of the post). If your batter is too thick add 2 T. of milk.

To keep it easy, we just left the tooth picks in the hot dogs while they fried, then pulled them out when they were finished frying and had cooled.

The oil should be anywhere between 350-360 degrees. Use a good thermometer to keep the the oil from getting too hot/cool. I heat my oil on med-high and then turn it down to medium when it hits the desired temp.

Fry for 1-2 minutes or until golden brown.

Place mini corn dogs onto a platter with a layer of paper towels to dry off the excess oil.

Serve with your favorite dipping sauces.

***
When it comes to frying, my motto should be "If at first you don't succeed (meaning, you burn the outsides and the insides are doughy), try try again." I can't even tell you how many times I've botched up a recipe that need to be deep fried and it ended in the TRASH. SO frustrating! All fryers work differently, not all thermometers are the same. So just be patient and if it doesn't work the first time, just adjust your temps and try again! It does get better and now I think it's fun to fry foods for a fun treat!

***

The boys went to a fun little cooking class last year and they made all sorts of baked carnival foods. One of the things they made were corn dog muffins. You could use the same ingredients above and make a baked version if you'd prefer that to fried. Of course, the fried taste better, but the baked ones weren't bad and are kid friendly. My kids liked them. 

You just dice up the hot dogs and mix them in with your batter. Bake @400 degrees for 15-18 minutes in a greased muffin tin.

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