These Hand Dipped Corn Dogs are covered with a thick cornbread coating and fried to golden brown perfection. It’s just like they make them on Main Street at Disneyland’s Little Red Wagon.

There’s just nothing like a freshly fried hand dipped corn dog. This corn dog recipe replicates the recipe used at Disneyland, where corn dogs are a favorite past time. A simple corn bread batter is used to coat hot dogs and they are then fried to golden brown perfection. They are easy to make and can easily be frozen and reheated later.
What kind of hot dogs should I use?
We recommend using a high quality hot dog for the best results. Looking for the words “all beef” on the packaging generally indicates a higher quality hot dog. Choose a hot dog that you like. You can make corn dogs using any shape of hot dog as well so you can choose long and skinny, or the short and fat kind. It’s all about your personal taste preferences.
Where can I buy popsicle sticks or craft sticks?
You can find popsicle or craft sticks in the craft section at major superstores like Walmart or Target. They can also often be found in grocery stores near the section where they sell other food related items like toothpicks and straws.
Can I freeze homemade corn dogs? How do I reheat them?
It’s super easy to freeze what you don’t eat right away. Reheat in the oven on a baking sheet at 400 degrees for about 10-12 minutes. They will crisp up and still be pretty tasty. There’s nothing quite like fresh, but homemade frozen corn dogs are way better than store bought.
PRO TIP: Don’t have buttermilk? It’s easy to make your own buttermilk substitute! You’ll just need regular milk and a little bit of vinegar or lemon juice. Or try one of our other buttermilk substitute options.
Watch the video below where Rachel will walk you through every step of this recipe. Sometimes it helps to have a visual, and we’ve always got you covered with our cooking show. You can find the complete collection of recipes on YouTube, Facebook Watch, or our Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.
Disneyland Hand Dipped Corn Dogs

- 1 quart Vegetable oil for frying
- 1 cup corn meal
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
- 8 hot dogs
- Popsicle or craft sticks
- In a large pot, heat vegetable oil to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a mixing bowl, stir together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Use a whisk to beat in the egg, milk, and melted butter.
- Insert the popsicle or craft sticks into each hot dog leaving enough of the stick showing to create a handle. Pat each hot dog dry with a paper towel.
- Transfer batter to a tall drinking glass for easy dipping. Dip each hot dog into the batter, covering the hot dog completely. After dipping, put immediately into the hot oil to fry.
- Fry each dog until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes per corndog. Put on paper towels to drain.
I have made these 3 times now. The first was to try the recipe. The second was because my wife requested them as part of her birthday dinner. The third time was for my son who loves corn dogs from a box. We ate some when I made them but I made about 12 extra to freeze so he could see if he liked them. Well I am making the last two at my granddaughters request. 375 for 22 minutes seems to get them heated up and crispy straight from the freezer into the oven. Fantastic recipe. I am unsure… Read more »
My previous phone wouldn’t let me rate this recipe.
I have been cooking from scratch for almost 40 years and have never made corn dogs before. Because of Covid, our county fair was canceled and my family was sad they weren’t going to get their annual corn dog fix. I decided to make my own and after looking through a LOT of recipes, chose yours. There is no need to keep looking because this was THE PERFECT recipe!! The corn dogs were easy and out-of-this-world delicious. I covered the corn dogs with cornstarch as you suggested and the batter didn’t slide off. The cornbread was fluffy and moist on… Read more »
Try dicing up some frozen crinkle cut fries, then rolling the battered dogs in the fries. Use your fingers to cover the dogs completely in crinkle fry pieces. Then fry as suggested. They are insanely delicious!!!
Easy to make! We did corn dog bites and subbed the sugar for honey. They turned out delicious!!
great idea!!
Hi Kiera,
Was a 1:1 for the honey?
I am excited to try your corn dog recipe! I have collected several to date. My family loves “Sonics Drive In Corn Dogs. So much so, we make an excuse to go almost every week. Tuesda is Corn Dog Day and they are 50 cents each. We get them for snacks. They have a sweet honey-like taste and the crunch is just right. I have a couple of tips for you. 1. I soak the sticks in warm water a couple hours prior to using. Prevents them from burning. 2. Roll the dog in a small plate of cornstarch, Lightly… Read more »
Real great recipe, but I added 2 table spoons of honey and it was absolutely perfect!!
These are the best corn dogs we have ever made. Ever! These are perfect. Thank you for a great recipe once again.
It’s the honey instead of sugar that really makes the great!
These were great and easy to make.
I made mini corn dogs, cutting them in half. I only gave 4 stars because they didn’t seem to have enough corn meal flavor. Kind of bland.
Never even thought to make homemade corn dogs until yesterday when I found your recipe by accident. These were a huge hit! Came out great. I’ll have to tweak my tools next time (deeper cup for dipping and pan for frying) but the taste is way better than the frozen box stuff. We actually had enough to do 11 hot dogs and extra batter. I fork dropped remaining batter and fried until light brown and covered in powdered sugar before serving. Those didn’t make it more than a few minutes. A 2 for 1 recipe!
If anyone is still around I’m wondering if maple syrup could be subbed for the sugar? I love corn dogs but refuse to eat frozen due to ingredients so I’m totally pleased to get this recipe. Will try this weekend but I’ve cooked for a lifetime so I can tell from recipe that these will be good. I will try half dipped in cornstarch and the other half in flour before dipping in batter.
Wish the recipe would’ve come out better. It ended up not sticking to my dogs very well. You would see patches and be a little runnier than ai though it would turn out. Upon eating it the whole coat would sometimes come off. Disappointed.
First time making a corn dogs and they were delicious. My mom used to make them all the time. Great recipe
I am going to try this!
This was so good! I didn’t have popsicle sticks or cornmeal (yes, I was not prepared), so I substituted the same amount of cornstarch for cornmeal and added 1 TBSP of honey to add some taste. I also just dunked the whole hot dog and we ate them without a handle. The switch of ingredients made it a little more like tempura batter and it was still super good. I was able to get 8 corndogs since that’s all I had hot dog wise, but there was tons of batter left over. I saved the leftover batter and plan to… Read more »
Batter was rather bland