A crispy thin layer of sweetened cornmeal crust surrounds a juicy hot dog that can be dipped in a little mustard or ketchup for a healthy take on a State Fair classic.
It’s state fair time and all I can think about are corn dogs!
We go to the state fair here in Texas every year for a big football game between our favorite team and one of our biggest rivals. Whether the game starts in the morning or evening, we are there several hours early to get our pre-game corn dog. It’s a tradition that we will continue as long as the corn dogs are being fried. They are some of the best corn dogs and we literally wait in line for hours to get one. The crispy cornmeal batter blows me away every time!
As soon as I saw the signs pop up around town advertising the state fair, I started thinking about making my own corn dogs at home. It’s something I had never made before, so I was pretty excited and on a mission to make them amazing. I wanted to be able to serve them to Baker for lunch or dinner without any guilt, so I went with a baked version that uses white whole wheat flour and lean beef hot dogs. After a few tries to master the baked technique, I nailed it! I mean nailed it!
These baked corn dogs are surprisingly amazing! A crispy thin layer of cornmeal dough surrounds a juicy hot dog that can be dipped in a little mustard or ketchup for a healthy take on a state fair classic.
The day I nailed these, Baker’s precious friend Audrey came over for a little lunch date and as you can see these two fell just as much in love with my baked corn dogs as they are with each other!
Every adult and kiddo at the table ate them right up! They’re perfect for mealtime, snack time, or just about anytime! Let me show you how very easy they are to bake!
Serve with mustard and ketchup for dipping.
Enjoy!
xoxo,
This recipe was created as part of my partnership with Gold Medal Flour however thoughts and opinions are certainly my own!
- 1 cup Gold Medal® white whole wheat flour
- 1 cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground mustard
- 6 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup non-fat milk
- ¼ cup honey
- 7 lean beef hot dog franks, cut in half
- 14 wooden sticks
- mustard & ketchup, for serving
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and ground mustard. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or two forks until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the milk and honey with a wooden spoon or your hands until well combined.
- Place dough on a lightly floured piece of parchment paper. Sprinkle some more flour over the dough and top with another piece of parchment paper. Roll dough to ¼-inch thickness.
- Push a wooden stick up the center of the cut end of each hot dog half. Place the dog on the dough and cut a square that is big enough to wrap around it. Form dough around each dog sealing both ends and any open areas. Place corn dogs on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until they start to brown. Serve with mustard and ketchup for dipping.
Paula @ Paula's Plate says
September 5, 2014 at 5:43 pmI am DEFINITELY giving these a try, they look incredible; even better than state fair dogs 🙂
Susan says
September 10, 2014 at 4:07 amI am definetly making these. I have Nutimill grinder and grind my own flour and corneal. My girls will love these.
Susan
Susan says
September 10, 2014 at 4:09 amMeant to say Nutrimill grinder and grind corn into cornmeal and wheat berries into flour.
Susan
Rebekah says
March 26, 2015 at 2:06 pmThese are the best! These have become a staple in my house. In order to make this recipe gluten free we substituted the wheat flour with Pamelas gluten free bread mix and they turned out great!
Penny says
May 28, 2015 at 4:16 pmI made these as a Gluten free and lactose free recipe. They were amaz-balls. Gf flour, sub Earth Balance for the butter (cuts out 5g of fat for every tablespoon you use) and almond milk for regular milk. I also used grass fed/ finished OTCO Bratwurst. These were hella-good.
Diane says
November 15, 2015 at 11:29 pmHow can I use part regular whole wheat flour and part white flour to make these? I have a lot of whole wheat flour I’d like to use up. Thanks!
Maegan says
November 16, 2015 at 9:05 amHi Diane! You could use 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup all-purpose flour or you could use all whole wheat flour if you’d like. The cornmeal already adds a dense texture to the batter so using all whole wheat flour will bake up just fine. Hope this helps! Enjoy!
Joyce Gibson says
July 2, 2016 at 3:10 pmCan you tell me if these freeze well and if you have reheated the best way to refreeze I would flash freeze to maintain shape and then bag
Maegan says
July 3, 2016 at 12:03 pmHi Joyce! I’ve only frozen them after baking them and they reheat great. I just froze them in a freezer-safe baggie and then placed them on a baking sheet and reheated at 375°F for 10-15 minutes. Hope this helps. Enjoy!
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Petra says
July 28, 2016 at 3:49 amHello, thank you for this recipe. I was looking for years for a corndog recipe that isn’t drowned in fat. I will definitely try them but I’m still curious if the taste will be similar to the original or if these corndogs have a ‘unique’ taste ’cause while I was looking someone told me I should give up the search because there just can’t be a recipe for corndogs without deepfrying… I really hate the smell and taste of deepfried goods so I have to admit I never ate an ‘original’ corndog.
Petra
Maegan says
July 28, 2016 at 10:16 pmHi Petra! I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how great these baked corn dogs taste. The crust is crispy without being greasy yet still has that classic cornmeal taste with a hint of sweetness. I hope you love them as much as we do! 🙂
Allison says
October 17, 2016 at 7:10 pmThank you so much for this recipe! My picky toddler who won’t eat anything that doesn’t look like bread actually ate these! I was looking for a recipe that had a thicker dough instead of a batter because I was trying to make little bite-sized pieces instead of full corn dogs, and this worked great!
Maegan says
October 17, 2016 at 9:32 pmThat’s so great to hear, Allison! Love the idea of making them bite-sized. I’ll have to try that next time for my crew. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Adam says
December 1, 2016 at 10:55 pmFollowed the recipe but our corn dogs turned out very dry and crumbly. What happened?
Maegan says
December 1, 2016 at 11:33 pmHi Adam! If you followed the exact ingredients and instructions, they shouldn’t be dry or crumbly. Was the dough easy to wrap around the hot dogs?
Rebekah says
January 28, 2017 at 5:04 amAre the mustard and honey necessary? I would like to try this, but I cannot use mustard or honey. Will the dough be the same if I left it out?
Maegan says
January 29, 2017 at 8:29 amHi Rebekah! You could definitely leave the ground mustard out, but the honey does contribute to the texture of the dough. You could try leaving it out or replacing it with maple syrup. Sorry I can’t say for sure since I haven’t tested the recipe without it.
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Dan says
August 21, 2017 at 3:40 pmHi. Any suggestions for using non-dairy alternatives to milk/butter?
Maegan says
August 22, 2017 at 11:12 pmHi Dan! You could try using oil in place of the butter such as coconut oil or canola oil. And for the milk, you could try almond milk, coconut milk or soy milk. Hope this helps!
Kathryn bennetts says
September 1, 2017 at 1:35 pmIs there any flour alternative? Does it need to be brand specific? Can you use milk with fat in it or does it have to be non fat? I’ve heard reviews on other baked corn dogs and everyone said they were dry and gross. Thanks
Maegan says
September 1, 2017 at 1:41 pmHi Kathy! You can use any flour you wish. Could be white whole wheat, whole wheat or all-purpose. And yes, you can use whole milk, if desired. These baked corn dogs are the best! You won’t be dissapointed. Enjoy!
john scott says
December 14, 2017 at 2:39 pmThey are great at the State Fair of Texas. Especially after another Sooner victory.
BOOMER SOONER!!!
Sunny says
January 29, 2018 at 2:38 pmI just tried making them and they taste amazing! The only problem I had was that I think the dough was a bit wet and as they baked, there were cracks and a little misshapen. Should I have added a little more flour? How do you get the shape to be more cylinder like?
Maegan says
January 29, 2018 at 2:47 pmHi Sunny! It sounds like you needed more flour as you were rolling out the dough. Did you roll it out between parchment paper? And maybe you rolled it out too thin? Try adding more flour when rolling it out next time for sure. Hope this helps.
Paul Heppler says
February 10, 2018 at 12:37 amUsed your method with polish sausage, all beef, pork breakfast sausages, … all good.
Maegan says
February 11, 2018 at 1:46 pmThose all sound so great, Paul! Thanks for sharing!
Jared Brooks says
March 13, 2018 at 11:54 pmThese weren’t great. I made them tonight and they never got visibly brown, which may have contributed to how plain they were, but when I had them with my brother they didn’t taste like anything but flour packed around a hotdog. I made a double batch and wrapped 15 full size hotdogs in them, but even then we had to peel off the shell just to get to something that tasted good. They had no flavor, and were too dense, if they had that usual corn dog flavor to them they would have been good.
Maegan says
March 14, 2018 at 12:27 amThat’s too bad to hear, Jared. I wonder if you left an ingredient out unintentionally? The honey and hint of mustard always comes through in the flavor of the cornmeal crust when I make them. Sorry they didn’t turn out for you.
Justina G says
April 13, 2018 at 1:36 amI made these with Tofurkey Gormet Sausages – and the results were amazing! Thanks for the recipe
Justina G says
April 13, 2018 at 1:39 amJust to add (I used agave syrup, and rice milk) as I’m experimenting with vegan meals to keep my teenagers happy.
Maegan says
April 14, 2018 at 11:04 pmYay! Thanks for sharing!
Josilin S says
December 3, 2018 at 7:39 amDid you cook the hotdogs before you rolled them into the corndog crust or let them cook while in the crust because your recipe didn’t mention that.
Maegan says
December 3, 2018 at 8:58 amHi Josilin! No need to cook the hot dogs first, they have plenty of time to heat as the corndogs bake. Enjoy!
Mariah says
January 28, 2019 at 10:06 amThese are delicious! I will say I had to make a few changes due to allergy and lack of ingredients. I used 2 cups of hodgkins mills gluten free cornbread mix in place of the flour and cornmeal, added a squirt of yellow mustard since my mustard powder was really old, and used almond milk with a splash of lemon juice (to make a dairy free “buttermilk”) in place of the milk.
The reviewers that said they were too dry may want to place the dogs on a greased and preheated baking pan as I did, and spray the tops with spray oil to help them have the familiar “greasy crunch” without the deep fried grossness/deliciousness (depending who you are ha ha–I love deep fried food, but I’ve never had success with deep fried corndogs. The batter always falls off as they fry, or is very lopsided.)
Diana says
April 9, 2019 at 1:47 pmI made these yesterday and feel like I’m missing something here. I have to admit, I’ve never had a corndog in my life, so I don’t have anything to compare to, nor have I used cornmeal before. So, these guys looked nice and brown and smelled delicious, but they were crunchy. Like, I bite and there’s crunchy cornmeal in the dough. Did I do something wrong? I feel maybe it needed more milk or time to soak or something?
Maegan says
May 9, 2019 at 2:33 pmHi Diana! It sounds like they turned out perfect from the way you described them. A great corndog has a thin crispy coating of cornmeal cooked batter around it. Tastes like a crunchy cornbread wrapped hot dog. Hope you enjoyed!