Soft and fluffy gluten-free corn dogs with a crisp golden-brown shell. These hand-dipped corn dogs in a gluten-free buttermilk and honey batter are delicious and easy to make!
After nearly two years without a proper family vacation, we just booked a trip to Disneyland this summer. Our kids are still young (3 and 6), so I've adjusted my expectations that we're not there for the thrill rides this time. We're strictly there for the magic...and the food.
Most of the classic Disneyland treats don't have a gluten-free option yet, so I'm working on perfecting those recipes at home. First, we made gluten-free churros and now homemade gluten-free corn dogs. All I need is the Mickey Mouse March blasting and my house is a whole mood.
In case you're wondering if homemade corn dogs are worth it over a frozen store-bought kind: emphatically yes!
- Super easy: Gluten-free corn dogs are so easy to make. Whisk up the batter, dunk a hot dog on a stick, fry for 2-3 minutes. Save for moderate clean-up, the prep and cooking process is quicker than baking a frozen corn dog.
- More delicious: Gluten-free corn dogs made with real high-quality ingredients are astronomically much more delicious than store-bought, both in terms of flavor and texture. When freshly fried, the outside is crispier, giving way to a flavorful soft fluffy cornbread layer.
- Make mini snack size: By making them yourself, you can cut the hot dogs in half and make gluten-free mini corn dogs that fit perfectly in lunchboxes. You can even make gluten-free corn dog bites without a stick as a perfect party app!
- Freeze them: Once cool, freeze any leftover gluten-free corn dogs and easily reheat them in the oven on demand!
The Best Sticks for Corn Dogs
You can use any kind of wooden skewer or stick to make corn dogs as long as they fit inside your pot. Here are a few different versions I've used and tested:
- 6-inch corn skewers (pictured here)
- 6-inch candy apple sticks
- 6-inch flat bamboo skewers
Corn Flour Makes the Best Corn Dog Batter
This recipe works with both Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Corn Flour and Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Medium Grind Cornmeal. Both will turn out delicious, and whichever one you use is up to personal preference and/or availability. Both of these Bob's Red Mill options are made from whole yellow corn kernels, including the germ and bran.
Corn flour is much more finely ground (think finely ground cornmeal, right above). In the US, corn flour refers to very finely ground yellow corn kernels, which is distinctly different than corn starch. For a softer and fluffier corn dog with a crisp shell, use corn flour.
Recipe
Crisp & Golden Gluten-Free Corn Dogs
Ingredients
- 1 cup (124 g) Bob's Red Mill gluten-free corn flour, see notes for cornmeal option
- ½ cup (54 g) Bob's Red Mill gluten-free oat flour
- ½ cup (80 g) Bob's Red Mill sweet rice flour
- ¼ cup (52 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cups + 2 tablespoons (272 g) buttermilk, plus more for thinning, if needed
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 8 hot dogs, beef or otherwise
- 4-6 cups vegetable, canola, or peanut oil , for frying
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat 2-inches of oil to 350°F in a pot large enough to fit your hot dogs on skewers. Clip a thermometer to the side to help maintain even temperature. Place a wire rack over a baking sheet. Line the wire rack with paper towels.
- Meanwhile, prepare the hot dogs. Dry the hot dogs well with a paper towel. If making mini corn dogs, cut the hot dogs in half. Carefully slide a 6-inch wood skewer through the cut side or bottom about halfway up the hot dog.
- Sift together the corn flour, oat flour, sweet rice flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium mixing bowl.
- Whisk the egg into the measuring cup with the buttermilk.
- Pour the buttermilk mixture and honey into the dry ingredients, whisking until just smooth. The batter should be thick, but not too thick. Add up to 1 tablespoon more of buttermilk to thin the batter as needed. For example, if the batter is too thin, it won't stick to the corn dog. If the batter is too thick, you'll end up with a very fat layer of cornbread around your hot dog.
- Transfer the batter to a glass cup tall enough to fit your hot dogs, depending on whether you're doing half or full-size corn dogs.
- When the oil is ready, dunk the skewered hot dog into the batter, swirling it to cover completely and gently swirling it as you lift it out of the batter. The entire hot dog should be covered in about ⅛-inch of batter. Carefully place the corn dog into the hot oil and fry for 3-4.5 minutes rotating the corn dog, until deeply golden brown on all sides. Transfer the corn dog to the paper towel to cool a bit before serving. Cook 2-3 corn dogs at a time, keeping an eye on the temperature of the oil.
- Repeat until you've fried all your corn dogs, adding more batter to the glass as needed. Serve warm with ketchup or mustard.
Video
Notes
Using Medium Grind Cornmeal
This recipe also works with Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Medium Grind Cornmeal. Medium Grind Cornmeal is less finely ground and will produce a cornbread shell that's rich and flavorful with a bit of crunchy texture throughout. Note: medium grind cornmeal will soak up less moisture, so start with just 1 cup of buttermilk, adding 1 teaspoon more at a time just to thin. *I do not recommend substituting the buttermilk in these corn dogs with homemade buttermilk or buttermilk powder as the batter will be significantly thinner and won't coat the hot dogs. While I haven't tested it yet, for a dairy-free version, I would recommend substituting the buttermilk for half non-dairy milk and half non-dairy yogurt. Add more non-dairy milk as needed to thin the batter or up to 2 tablespoons more corn flour to thicken, if needed.How to store corn dogs
Once cool, store leftover homemade gluten-free corn dogs in an airtight container or freezer bag in the fridge for up to 4 days or the freezer for up to 6 months. Reheat in the oven as described below.How to Reheat Corn Dogs
Reheat corn dogs just as you would store-bought frozen ones. If still frozen, place them on a baking sheet in a 350°F oven for 12-15 minutes. If defrosted or stored in the fridge, reduce the bake time to 8-10 minutes.What To Do with Extra Gluten-Free Corn Dog Batter
If you have leftover batter, here are some things you can do with it:
- Store it for corn dogs on demand. The batter can be made up to 3 days in advance and stored in the fridge until you're ready to use it.
- Dip other things in it. Use a toothpick to dunk a sausage slice in the batter and fry up a cornbread sausage fritter.
Sarah Menanix -
It sounds like possibly your batter was too thin - I found that when it was too thing, it wouldn't stick properly to the corn dog. I would try adding a bit more cornflour to thicken the batter!
Amanda -
These were phenomenal! Used Hebrew National hot dogs and followed the recipe to a tee. Even used leftover batter to fry pickles and they were the best we’ve tried so far. Thank you for sharing!
CodyL -
Did this recipe with lil smokies and it turned out great! The batter was so fluffy and crisp. Will definitely be doing it again
CdnCeliac -
Amazing, used 1 -1 flour instead of two mentioned in recipe with GF corn flour. Easily the best corn dogs i have ever had and easy to make.
allie -
hello! what do you think about using an air fryer?
Sarah Menanix -
Unfortunately, I do not think an air fryer would work. While I've not tried this recipe, it's a very moist batter and will absolutely run off and stick to the bottom of the air fryer. I've tried other batter-based frying recipes in my air fryer and the results have not been edible...sorry!
Alene -
Can I use tapioca flour for sweet rice flour? I can't eat any rice at all. Thank you!
Sarah Menanix -
While I haven't tested it with tapioca flour, I think that should work just fine here!
Alene -
I'll let you know if it works! Thank you, and have a great weekend!
Lydia -
Is there is substitute that can be used in place of oats?
Sarah Menanix -
While I haven't tried it, I would recommend replacing the oat flour with either Bob's 1-to-1 all purpose gf flour or a combination of sorghum flour and tapioca flour (typically I do 75% sorghum and 25% tapioca as a sub)