Gluten Free Corn Dogs

I cheated today... I ate REAL bread... Luckily I don't have Celiac's, but I will probably pay for it in hand pain tomorrow. So, no knitting until I get it out of my system. We went to Firehouse Subs today and they didn't have any GF bread (not surprising.) I planned to just pick out the middle and leave the bread like I normally do when I get a sub from a place that doesn't have a lettuce wrap or GF option. Well, by the time we got the sub home the cheese had melded to the top of the bread and it was impossible to get the top off without making a GIANT mess. So, I took of the bottom and just ate it like an open face sandwich. And then some slight guilt set in, because the bread wasn't satisfying, it was just a vessel that put the other tastey goodness in my gullet. Oh well, I knew I had a delicious GF dinner awaiting me...

Which brings me to the real reason you are here... GLUTEN FREE CORN DOGS! I LOVE CORN DOGS! I love everything about them... the crunchy texture on the outside, the taste of honey in the breading and the salty hot dog in the middle. I LOVE THEM! And since going GF I missed them and I am certainly dreading the Wisconsin State Fair because I will have to decide between cheating again and dealing with some pain or passing by all the Deep Fried GOODNESS that I have always indulged in once a year at the State Fair. But after tonight's dinner I know that I will have an alternative that will satisfy my corn dog cravings!

My husband recently posted a Corn Dog recipe on my facebook page as a hint that we could make them at home. I saw it as an opportunity to alter it to a GF recipe. Now it might not be fit for someone with Celiac's in the form that I used, because I couldn't find "certified yellow corn meal" and since I don't have Celiac's I don't worry too much about a little cross contanination. I am sure you can find certified GF corn meal, but I went with Bob's Red Mill corn meal that didn't say Gluten Free, but also didn't list wheat or gluten as an ingredient, it just said it was processed in a facility that also processes wheat and other allergens that I didn't really read.

The original didn't call for Bisquick, but since I was altering it I decided GF Bisquick would be a good place to start since it has all the levening ingredients worked out. Well the recipe with that replacement was REALLY soupy so I added an extra 1/3 cup GF flour mix and another 1/3 cup of yellow corn meal. That did the trick! Oh and I POUR the dry ingredients into the measuring cups instead of scooping them. You might have to experiment a little bit to get the consistency right.

So now for the recipe!

Wooden Skewers
Gallon Ziplock Bags
1 Gallon of Veggie Oil
Tall Cup or Glass

8-10 bun length hot dogs

Batter:

1 cup GF Bisquick
1/3 cup GF Flour Mix (I used Mom's place GF Mix)
1 1/3cup yellow corn meal
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup milk
1 egg brought to room temp and then beaten
1 TBS veggie oil
1 TBS honey

While you're preparing the batter, pour the oil in your deep fryer and set the temp to 350 degrees F. If you don't have a deep fryer you can do this stove top, but then you'll probably need less oil and should use a REALLY deep pot and a thermometer to make sure the oil gets up to the proper temp.

Mix together dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Mix together wet ingredients in a smaller bowl.

Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. The batter should be thicker than pancake batter, if you find you think it is too thick, add a little more milk, about a TBS at a time.

Dry hotdogs with a paper towel, this helps the batter skick to the hot dog, and then skewer them with a wooden skewer.

Place the gallon ziploc bag into the large cup and then pour the batter into the ziploc bag. EASY CLEAN UP!

Once your fryer is up to temp, dip the corn dogs into the batter and carefully lower them into the fryer until they are immersed. Fry the corn dogs for 3-5 minutes until they are golden brown. You may have to rotate them a little to make sure they fry evenly. My hubby did this part because I am CLUMSY! We fried two at a time and he was able to finagle them to rest in one of the holes on the side of the basket.

It seems like quite a bit of work, but it was a pretty quick process and it helped to have some teamwork in the kitchen. Plus the end result was WELL WORTH the time spent in prepwork and cooking!

We rested them on a cooling rack over a cookie sheet to make sure they stayed crunchy!

Here is the end result!

~eem