Championship Game Snacks - The Secret to Homemade Corn Dogs

(c) 2012 by Tom King

There are all sorts of recipes out there for corn dogs, but most are for a family-sized event and most require far more ingredients than you really want to fool with. Here's the dead easiest way to make enough corn dogs for a Superbowl, World Series or Final Four. A word of warning. You want to position the Fry Daddy where you can see the TV. The guys will keep you busy. I personally can eat 10 or 20 all by myself.


Here's what you need:

1. Box of corn dog skewers – keep an eye out for these in the grocery store. They can be hard to find. I special order mine online in boxes of 1000. In a pinch you can have the guys write their names on their skewers and reuse them (just don't let your wife see or she'll throw out the half gallon of oil left in the fryer after you're done).
2. All the wieners you can eat - this recipe makes even vege-weenies tast great!
3. 1 box of “complete” (add water only) pancake mix
4. 1 Box Corn Meal Muffin Mix
5. Mixing bowl
6. Wire Whisk
7. Large Fry Daddy
8. Gallon bottle of Canola Oil (healthier - you can tell your wife you made them with mono-unsaturated oil.)
9. Paper towels, lots of paper towels
10. Metal tongs (do not grab the wooden stick after they cook. It's liable to be surprisingly hot)
11. Bags of chips
12. Paper plates
13. Napkins
14. Ketchup, may, mustard (my group likes to dip 'em in queso)

Fill the Fry Daddy about 3/4 full - enough to cover the entire wiener.  Plug it in and let the oil heat up while you make the batter.

The Batter
In a big mixing bowl, dump a regular size box of pancake mix and 1 box of corn meal muffin mix. Pour in water and whisk it up till the batter is smooth and not too thick, not too thin.

Wiener Prep
Wiener preparation is the secret to delicious homemade hot dogs. You have to thoroughly dry off the wieners. I use paper towels myself. Wet wieners prevent the batter from adhering to the dog long enough to cook.

Cooking
Skewer the dried wieners on the corn dog sticks. Dip them into the batter bowl and make sure they are thoroughly coated with batter. Lift them from the batter one at a time, letting the excess batter run off.  Set each dog gently into the Fry Daddy. Put them in one at a time and allow the outside to cook enough so that the next dog you put in won't stick to the first one.  I hold them by the stick for about 10 to 15 seconds to allow the batter to skin over.  I like to put them in from right to left so I know that the one on the right is always the one ready to come out soonest.  Let them cook till they are golden brown.  Don't let them get too dark or they'll taste burnt.


Serving Corn Dogs
When the dogs are ready, I just put them out on a big serving plate next to a couple of open bags of chips and a stack of paper plates. I set out bowls to put the ketchup, mayo and mustard in rather than letting the guys dip straight out of the jars. That way, I don't have to throw away half a jar of mayo because my wife says, "I'm throwing that out. Every one of them had their hands in the jar and did you see any of them wash their hands once???" It just costs less to put it out in bowls. That way if someone dips his weenie in the mustard, you don't lose the whole jar.

I'm just sayin'

Tom King