pancake batter corn dogs

Opening Day for Baseball was just this past Tuesday (for the Cleveland Indians, at least) and the Savannah Sand Gnats Minor League team had their opener last night. When baseball season rolls around, the only thing that Ed wants to eat is junk food. If not for dinner itself, but after the real meal has been eaten. He immediately heads for our snack tupperware and roots through it until he finds potato chips, sunflower seeds or cookies. 

This was my first time making corn dogs at home and I think I made a small mistake. Nothing too heinous, and it's essentially a judgement call anyway, but I chose turkey hot dogs for this recipe. When cooked on the grill, turkey hot dogs will achieve a nice crisp and snap on the outside despite their lack of a proper casing. However, when deep fried in a pancake and cornmeal batter, they don't. So, the hot dog is kind of mushy in the center. Not gross, still fully cooked and delicous, but you know when you bite into a pork or beef hot dog and the outside snaps as you bite into it? That's what I was looking for when I bit into these corn dogs, and I didn't get that. Next time, I will opt to use kosher beef dogs instead.

Before dropping your hot dogs into the batter, give them a pat down with a paper towel to remove excess liquid. That will help the batter to stick. I chose the longest kebab stick for frying because I don't want my hand anywhere near that oil. When they corn dogs have finished cooking, I then just use scissors to cut them down. When you coat your hot dogs, swirl them in the batter to get it coated as much as possible. Swirling that stick is going to be essential to ensure even coating. When dropping into the fryer, you'll also want to be sure to immediately start swirling in there- so you don't get strange protuberances like the ones you can see on the side of that corn dog above.

As always, be sure to let these puppies cook down and drain on a paper towel. Serve with ketchup, barbecue, spicy brown or dijon mustard.

Pancake Batter Corn Dogs

1 package wooden kebab skewers

1 package fully coked hot dogs (your choice)

1 box complete pancake batter mix

1/2 cup corn meal

2 quarts vegetable oil, for frying

Spicy brown mustard

Preheat oil to 350 degrees in a large stock pot. While oil is preheating, prepare pancake batter according to the instructions on the package. Combine with corn meal. Pat down hot dogs with a paper towel to remove excess liquid and pierce length ways with wooden skewer. Drop skewered hot dogs into batter and swirl to coat completely. Immediately drop coated dogs into hot oil and swirl. When the outer coating of the dog has set, allow to fry for 2 minutes on either side, or until the batter is golden and crispy. Allow to drain on paper towel. Serve with spicy brown mustard. Enjoy!