DIY Corn Dogs

These are a staple at our house for quick lunches, after school snacks, and sometimes even breakfast (using sausage instead of hot dogs of course). I hate buying them in the freezer section of the grocery store because they are so expensive! With the price of hot dogs falling about1 per package for 8 and a ingredients for cornbread being about the same, I can no longer justify spending $8-$10 in the grocery store for frozen pre-made corn dogs. Now I make big batches of these at home and they freeze beautifully. 

You'll need...

1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (although regular milk works fine)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp honey
10 hot dogs
10 wooden skewers
 2 quarts of vegetable oil for frying

Start by taking the hot dogs out of the package, wiping them dry, and placing them on a towel lined plate. You do not want your hot dogs to be too moist or the batter will not stick. 
Heat the oil in a large pot or deep fryer until the oil reaches 350 degrees. 
In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. Add the beaten egg, milk, honey, and 1 tbsp oil. Don't worry if your batter looks thick. The ideal consistency will be thicken than pancake batter in order to effectively stick to the hot dogs. Stick your skewers into the hot dogs to prepare for battering. The easiest way to dunk your hot dogs is to pour the batter into a tall drinking glass. Take each hot dog skewer and dunk it in the batter up to the stick where the hot dog ends. Lift slowly and let the excess batter drip off. Immediately place in hot oil while holding the end of the stick. Cook for 2-3 minutes until golden brown on all sides. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining skewers. Allow them to cool slightly before eating. You can also place them in airtight food storage containers and freeze them. To reheat, place a wire cooling rack on top of a baking sheet. Place the corn dogs on the racks and bake on 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Placing them on the wire rack eliminates the need to turn them halfway through the cooking process because the heat will be able to penetrate both sides at the same time. 

**More Money Savers- this is a great way to use those chop sticks that come with your Chinese take out that are sitting in your utensil drawer. Also, drain your corn dogs Sandra Lee style. Use paper grocery sacks to drain fried foods instead using paper towels. 

* Tip: If you have little ones or you're just craving a bite size snack, forget the skewers and make bite size corn dog nuggets using this same recipe. Just cut the hot dogs into bite size pieces, dip them in the batter inside the original mixing bowl, fry them up, use a slotted spoon to remove them from the oil, drain them, then either eat them or freeze them.