Homemade Sourdough Corn Dogs Recipe (Discard) (2024)

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Sourdough Corn Dogs are hand-dipped in a honey, sourdough batter and fried until crispy and golden brown.

Homemade Sourdough Corn Dogs Recipe (Discard) (1)

If you’re craving the best corn dogs that ooze with nostalgia and flavor, look no further than Sourdough Corn Dogs. These all-American favorites take the classic juicy hot dog and give it a delicious twist. The secret ingredient? Sourdough discard!

Imagine biting into a crispy, golden-brown batter that’s been lovingly made from leftover sourdough starter. It not only adds a delightful tanginess but also ensures that the batter is incredibly easy to whip up. You can practically taste the memories of county fairs and carnivals with every bite.

What sets these sourdough corn dogs apart is that you can skip the hot dog buns altogether. The flavorful sourdough batter envelops the juicy hot dog, creating a perfect handheld treat.

They fry up quickly, so you won’t have to wait long to enjoy that irresistible combination of crunchy exterior and tender, savory interior.

Whether you’re reliving fond fair memories or introducing someone to the wonders of the American corn dog, Sourdough Corn Dogs are a surefire crowd-pleaser.

So, roll up your sleeves, grab some sourdough discard, and get ready to savor the simple pleasure of homemade nostalgia on a stick.

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Homemade Sourdough Corn Dogs Recipe (Discard) (2)

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Why You’ll Love This Recipe:

Great Flavor –

This sweet, honey cornmeal batter is made better with the slight tang of sourdough discard! Fry it up for crispy, sweet, and unique homemade corn dogs.

Skip the buttermilk –

Instead, of using buttermilk, as many homemade corn dog recipes do, I used sourdough discard in my corn dog batter. The discard fries up just as sweet and fluffy, but with an extra bit of sourdough tang!

​Freezer friendly –

Sourdough Corn Dogs freeze and refresh perfectly! Find the simple instructions below.

Homemade Sourdough Corn Dogs Recipe (Discard) (3)

Ingredients

Hot Dogs –Any kind of hot dogs will do for this recipe, so choose your favorite.

Yellow Cornmeal –Be sure to purchase “finely ground” cornmeal. Coarse yellow cornmeal can lead to a gritty cornmeal batter.

All-purpose Flour –To thicken the batter.

Baking Powder –This leavener helps the corndog batter to be light and fluffy.

Sugar –For a touch of sweetness.

Salt – Any salt will do, but my favorite isRedmond’s Unrefined Fine Sea Saltfor extra natural minerals.

Milk –Brings moisture to the batter.

Unfed Sourdough Starter –Use sourdough discard that is less than 2 weeks old.

Honey –Adds some sweetness and a honey flavor.

Egg– Help bind the batter.

Frying Oil –Choose a neutral oil, like Canola Oil, Vegetable Oil, or Peanut Oil

Supplies

Popsicle sticks or Wooden Skewers

Tall glass

Dutch Oven or a Large Pot

Frying Thermometer

Tongs

Wire rack

How to Make Sourdough Corndogs

Pour the frying oil into a Dutch Oven or a large pot. Heat to medium-high heat (350 F).

Remove the hot dogs from their packaging and pat dry with a paper towel. Insert a stick into each hot dog.

In a large bowl, whisk together corn meal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk the sourdough discard, milk, honey, egg, and melted butter until smooth.

Homemade Sourdough Corn Dogs Recipe (Discard) (4)
Homemade Sourdough Corn Dogs Recipe (Discard) (5)

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix until all of the dry bites have been incorporated, but be careful not to overmix! This can lead to a dense batter. It’s okay if there are lumps, just like pancake batter.

Pour the cornbread batter into a tall glass and dip one hot dog at a time. Allow any excess batter to dip off for 5 seconds, then place the top of the corn dog into the hot oil at an angle. Fry for 5-7 seconds before carefully dropping the entire sourdough corn dog into the oil, this prevents it from sticking to the bottom.

Homemade Sourdough Corn Dogs Recipe (Discard) (6)
Homemade Sourdough Corn Dogs Recipe (Discard) (7)

Fry for 2-3 minutes, or until the Sourdough Corn Dogs are a deep golden brown. Use tongs to turn the sourdough cornbread in order for it to be fried on all sides.

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Remove the Sourdough Corn Dogs from the oil and place on a wire rack.

Serve hot with your favorite condiments!

How to Serve:

Crispy Sourdough Corn Dogs are best when served hot with your favorite sauces, like ketchup or mustard!

Keep the dry frying going by whipping up some homemade french fries, onion rings, sourdough fried pickles, or homemade sourdough fried chicken tendersto serve alongside!

Homemade Sourdough Corn Dogs Recipe (Discard) (9)

How to Store:

Store leftover Sourdough Corndogs in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Reheat:

To reheat, bake in a 300-degree F oven for 10 minutes, or until warmed through. Or pop the corn dogs into the microwave for 30 seconds.

Homemade Sourdough Corn Dogs Recipe (Discard) (10)

FAQs:

What kind of cornmeal should I use?

Be sure to purchase “finely ground” cornmeal. Coarse yellow cornmeal can lead to a gritter cornmeal batter.

Can you freeze Sourdough Corndogs?

Yes! To freeze Sourdough Corndogs, cool until room temperature, place in a freezer-safe bag, and place into the freezer for up to 2 months. To reheat, bake in a 300-degree F oven for 15 minutes, or until warmed through. Or pop the corn dogs into the microwave for 60 seconds.

What can I do with leftover batter?

Chop whole hot dogs into bite-sized pieces to make mini sourdough corn dogs! If you’re still left with batter and no more hot dogs, scoop the batter into the hot oil and fry up some Sourdough Hushpuppies.

Homemade Sourdough Corn Dogs Recipe (Discard) (11)

Happy frying!

Homemade Sourdough Corn Dogs Recipe (Discard) (12)

More Recipes Like This:

Sourdough Fried Pickles

Homemade Sourdough Fried Chicken Tender

Sourdough Mac and Cheese

Homemade Sourdough Corn Dogs Recipe (Discard) (13)

Homemade Sourdough Corn Dogs Recipe (Discard)

Yield: 12 corn dogs

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Sourdough Corn Dogs are hand-dipped in a honey, sourdough batter and fried until crispy and golden brown. 

Ingredients

  • 12 hot dogs, choose your favorite
  • 1 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal (290g)
  • 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour (175g)
  • 1/4 cup sugar (60g)
  • 1 Tablespoon baking powder (11g)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt (1g)
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 1/2 cup milk (370ml)
  • 1/2 cup unfed sourdough starter, discard (140g)
  • 1 T melted butter (13g)
  • 1 Tablespoon honey

Instructions

1. Pour the frying oil into a Dutch Oven or a large pot. Heat to medium-high heat (350 F).

2. Remove the hot dogs from their packaging and pat dry with a paper towel. Insert a stick into each hot dog.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk the sourdough discard, milk, honey, egg, and melted butter until smooth.

5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Mix until all of the dry bites have been incorporated, but be careful not to overmix! This can lead to a dense batter. It's okay if there are lumps, just like pancake batter.

6. Pour the cornbread batter into a tall glass and dip one hot dog at a time. Allow any excess batter to dip off for 5 seconds, then place the top of the corn dog into the hot oil at an angle. Fry for 5-7 seconds before carefully dropping the entire sourdough corn dog into the oil, this prevents it from sticking to the bottom.

7. Fry for 2-3 minutes, or until the Sourdough Corn Dogs are a deep golden brown. Use tongs to turn the sourdough cornbread in order for it to be fried on all sides.

8. Remove the Sourdough Corn Dogs from the oil and place them on a wire rack.

9. Serve hot with your favorite condiments!

Notes

How to Store:

Store leftover Sourdough Corndogs in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Reheat: To reheat, bake in a 300-degree F oven for 10 minutes, or until warmed through. Or pop the corn dogs into the microwave for 30 seconds.

How to Freeze:

To freeze Sourdough Corndogs, cool until room temperature, place in a freezer-safe bag, and place into the freezer for up to 2 months. To reheat, bake in a 300-degree F oven for 15 minutes, or until warmed through. Or pop the corn dogs into the microwave for 60 seconds.

What kind of cornmeal should I use?

Be sure to purchase "finely ground" cornmeal. Coarse yellow cornmeal can lead to a gritter cornmeal batter.

What can I do with leftover batter?

Chop whole hot dogs into bite-sized pieces to make mini sourdough corn dogs! If you're still left with batter and no more hot dogs, scoop the batter into the hot oil and fry up some Sourdough Hushpuppies.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

Homemade Sourdough Corn Dogs Recipe (Discard) (2024)

FAQs

What to do with discard when making sourdough starter? ›

Can I use sourdough discard to make a new sourdough starter? Absolutely! You can take a portion of sourdough discard and add a few grams of flour and a few grams of water to create a healthy active sourdough starter. You may need to feed your revived starter a few more times before its ready to make bread.

How much of my sourdough starter should I discard? ›

Experts recommend feeding a starter twice daily. And at each feeding, you hold onto 1/2 cup of your original starter, discard the rest, and then add its same weight in water and flour. With this schedule, you'd discard almost a cup of sourdough starter every day.

What is the difference between sourdough starter and discard? ›

The starter is a mixture of flour and water that captures wild yeast and bacteria over time, creating a leavening agent for bread. What is this? On the other hand, sourdough discard refers to the portion of the starter that is removed and discarded before feeding the remaining starter during regular maintenance.

Why use sourdough discard in recipes? ›

More Moisture: Adding discard to recipes adds extra moisture to the baked good. This can make for delicious muffins, pancakes, waffles and more! Flavor: Discard has gone through the fermentation cycle and typically has a more sour flavor from the bacteria.

Can I feed my sourdough starter without discarding? ›

If your recipe calls for more than 227g (about 1 cup) of starter, feed it without discarding until you've reached the amount you need (plus 113g to keep and feed again).

Do you throw away sourdough discard? ›

When you are ready to bake, remove the discard from the fridge and let it come to room temperature. I recommend keeping sourdough discard for up to one week. If needed, mark the date on the container in your refrigerator. After one week, there is a higher chance of the discard growing bad bacteria or mold.

Do you have to discard starter every time you feed it? ›

It would be best if you discarded some portion of your starter each time you feed it unless you want to continue to let it grow. Eventually, you need to discard the used “food” (flour and water) that's been used to sustain your starter during the last fermentation period.

Should I stir my sourdough starter between feedings? ›

It is important that you stir the sourdough starter every day in the morning and in the evening. Feed the starter. Add 60 g flour and 60 g lukewarm water, stir well to combine, and let sit out for 24 hours.

How do I know if my sourdough discard is good? ›

You can store mature sourdough discard in the refrigerator indefinitely. As long as there is no mold, it is good to use.

How quickly do you need to use sourdough discard? ›

At room temperature (70 F), sourdough discard should last about 1-2 days. Beyond that, it won't go bad necessarily, it will just become more acidic as time goes on (especially in warm weather). Not ideal for sweet recipes. In the fridge, it will keep for about a week or so, and in the freezer it will last indefinitely.

Is sourdough discard necessary? ›

You'll discover that discarding is necessary to build a healthy and thriving sourdough starter - but it's not actually as wasteful as you might think.

Are there health benefits to using sourdough discards? ›

Are There Health Benefits in Discard? Yes, there are actually several health benefits to using sourdough discard in your cooking and baking. Sourdough discard is rich in probiotics, which can help promote a healthy gut microbiome and improve digestion.

Can I bake sourdough discard by itself? ›

You can store sourdough discard in a separate container, then bake with it when you want — for instance, maybe you fed your starter on Tuesday, leaving you with discard that you want to use to bake pancakes on Saturday.

How do I activate sourdough discard? ›

If it looks okay but you have left it for so long that it will impart too sour a flavor in whatever you cook with it, or will not render good dough or batter, rather than throwing it out, feed it some flour and water to perk it up—how much depends on the amount of discard in there.

What is the best flour for sourdough starter? ›

The best flour blend for creating a new sourdough starter is 50% whole-meal flour (whole wheat or whole rye) and 50% bread flour or all-purpose flour. I recommend a 50/50 mix of whole wheat flour and bread flour. Why do you need to use these two types of flour?

When can I start saving my sourdough discard? ›

If you've just created your sourdough starter, wait until it's reliably rising and falling each day with signs of fermentation—some rise, bubbles, a progressive sour aroma—before storing discard in your cache.

How long can sourdough starter discard sit out? ›

As long as your kitchen isn't too warm (I'd say 78°F or higher) your starter/discard will be fine stored at room temperature for at least a few days without feeding. The flavor will get more acidic the longer it sits.

Can you dry sourdough starter discard? ›

Any excess, also called the discard, can be dried and ground to powder. It can then be used for multiple purposes.

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