Who doesn’t love fried food? Perhaps not the healthiest dinner option in the book, but our family motto is “everything in moderation!"
So when my 5-year-old had a craving for corn dogs, AND had a sleepover at our house on the same day, I decided to brave the kitchen with her and her friends to make our own. I love cooking with kids because I believe it's a great educational activity -- Math! Science! Literacy! -- Plus we all get to eat.
What you'll need: |
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| *NOTE: We did not have buttermilk. But I discovered (with a little Internet sleuthing) that a cup of regular milk mixed with 1-2 tablespoons of white vinegar works as a substitute. |
Step 1Slice the hot dogs into 1½” pieces. Poke toothpicks into each slice.Cooking with kids: Hot dogs slice pretty easily with a butter knife. This is the perfect opportunity to introduce knife safety and skills. Also, even the youngest of kids can stick toothpicks into hot dogs. |  |
Step 2Fill a saucepan about halfway with vegetable oil and heat on high. (I put the burner on high for about 7 minutes and then turned it down to medium-high during the frying process.) |
Cooking with kids: Kids can help pour the room-temperature oil into the saucepan. While we sometimes allow our kids to work over the stovetop under close supervision, this time around I handled all the hot-oil tasks. |
Step 3Make the batter. Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Then add the egg, buttermilk, and vegetable oil to the dry ingredients and mix well.Cooking with kids: Measuring, scooping, pouring, and mixing are great ways to build confidence in the kitchen! These activities also help develop gross-motor control over little hands and encourage learning about things like counting, measurements, and how ingredients work together to create different foods. |  |
Step 4Dip the hot dogs into the batter by holding the toothpick. Place/drop the battered hot dog into the hot oil. (You can leave the toothpick in the oil.) |
| Cooking with kids: This was probably the most challenging step, as it required a little practice to dip the hot dog without it falling off the toothpick, but they did a great job with it! As soon as their hot dogs were battered, they handed them to me to place into the oil for frying. |
Step 5Use a straining spoon to move the corn dogs around to fry evenly. Once they reach a golden brown color, use the straining spoon to scoop up the corn dogs and place on a tray lined with paper towels.Cooking with kids: While the kids didn’t help with this step (hot, sizzling oil and all), they were able to watch at a distance and were completely in awe of how their corn dogs fried up! |  |
Time to eat! These mini corn dogs were not only fun to make, but the girls loved to eat them!
Looking for a fun dessert option that kids can have fun making? Try these easy fruit nachos!
