Recipe for How to Make Funnel Cake at home that’s simple & delicious! Simple pantry ingredients combine to make these fun homemade funnel cakes. Come see how easy they are to make!
No more long lines and over priced foods thanks to this DIY fair food recipe. You’re going to love making your favorite funnel cake recipes at home and in the comfort of your own kitchen. A fun way to eat funnel cakes is by turning them into funnel cake fries. With funnel cake fries it is easy to dip into a sweet dipping sauce (if you have one).
What are funnel cakes?
Similar to pancake batter, it’s a blend of flour, eggs, and other ingredients but instead of being cooked on a pan, it’s deep fried like a donut. Fried in a hot pan of oil this batter is either poured straight in for funnel cake fries or swirled around for a larger funnel cake. It’s delicious and can be topped off with just about any special toppings. With the crisp outsides, soft fluffy insides, and somewhat greasy texture it’s a treat that some look forward to all year thanks to local fairs and festivals.
Funnel cake ingredients
-Flour: We need 2 cups of all-purpose flour for the base of the funnel cake batter.
-Sugar: 2 tablespoons of sugar will help the batter to caramelize as it cooks and tastes a little sweeter.
-Baking powder: We need 1 teaspoon of baking powder to help the batter get nice and puffy as it fries.
-Salt: With 1/2 teaspoon of salt we can enhance the flavors in this funnel cake well.
-Milk: To thin down the batter while not taking away from the flavor we will need to use 1 1/3 cups of milk.
-Eggs: 2 large eggs work as a binder to hold the batter together.
-Vanilla: To give our funnel cakes a decent flavor use 1/2 tablespoon of high quality vanilla or any vanilla you have on hand.
-Oil: We will need several cups worth of vegetable oil for frying our funnel cakes. The pan should be filled so it’s at least an inch deep.
-Toppings: You can use any combination of choice of toppings from powdered sugar, to ice cream, whipped cream, strawberries, cookies, chocolate syrup, caramel syrup, or even marshmallow dip. They all taste pretty great.
How to make funnel cakes
Stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium sized bowl.
In another bowl, whisk the milk, eggs, and vanilla extract.
Slowly add your dry mixture to the wet one and stir until completely smooth.
In a medium sized frying pan, fill it with vegetable oil and place the heat onto medium high. You want the oil to reach 375 degrees F but you do not want the oil to get too hot or else the funnel cakes will break apart.
Once the oil has been heated, drizzle the batter into the oil. Use a bag with the corner snipped to drizzle batter more easily.
For funnel cakes make a swirling pattern and for funnel cake fries, make straight lines.
Once the funnel cake is a golden in color, flip it to the other side with tongs and cook until that side is golden as well. Be careful when flipping to avoid oil splashing.
After both sides are golden brown, remove from oil and place onto a paper towel lined plate to remove excess oil.
Dust with powdered sugar and any toppings you want.
Best served when still warm. Enjoy!
How to Make Funnel Cakes
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp white sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 ⅓ cup milk
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
- Vegetable oil FOR FRYING
- Powdered sugar
Topping options
- Ice cream
- Whipped cream
- Strawberries
- Cookies
- Chocolate syrup
- Caramel syrup
- Marshmallow dip
Instructions
- In a medium bowl stir together dry ingredients, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- In another bowl whisk together wet ingredients: milk, eggs and vanilla extract.
- Slowly add dry ingredients to wet, stirring until completely smooth.
- Heat a deep saucepan or medium sized frying pan filled halfway with oil to 375°F. I heat my pan over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat once the temp is reached. It's important to maintain the temperature, so use a cooking thermometer to test the oil, increasing or decreasing heat as needed.
- Once the oil is heated, drizzle the batter into the oil in a thin stream. For this step you can use a medium size funnel or a drizzle bag.
- Funnel Cake-You want to swirl and overlap the batter over itself in a criss-cross style. For this step you can use a medium size funnel or a drizzle bag.
- Funnel fries - You want to do small swirls in a line that is overlapping the batter itself.
- Once one side is a nice golden color flip it over with tongs. Do the same to the other side for about a minute or so. Be careful when flipping so it does not cause oil to splash.
- After both sides are a golden color remove to a paper towel to remove excess oil.
- Dusted it with powdered sugar and add any toppings you want. Best served while still warm!
Notes
Nutrition
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How to store funnel cakes
With the leftover funnel cake or funnel cake fries, you can store them in an airtight container and place in the fridge for later. When reheating funnel cake do so in the oven at 350 degrees F for about 8-10 minutes so they stay crispy. If done in the microwave may become soggy. But, remember with fried foods that they do not last long. So, it is best eaten when they are fried right after.
Why is my funnel cake falling apart?
If you have our oil too hot the funnel cake will break apart as it’s being drizzled into the pan. The optional temperature for the oil is 375 degrees F as that isn’t too hot but not too cold either. If you find that your temp is too hot, reduce heat and wait a few minutes for the oil to adjust and test again with a small amount of batter.
Can I make the funnel cake batter in advance?
Absolutely. Make the batter and let it chill, covered, in a bowl or zipper top bag in the fridge for up to overnight. This can be a great way to reduce prep time when you want hot funnel cakes for a treat.
More great recipes to try soon!
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Recipe for How to Make Funnel Cake at home that’s simple & delicious! Simple pantry ingredients combine to make these fun homemade funnel cakes. Come see how easy they are to make!
Richard Tunner says
Thanks for thinking about the costs and well as the taste. Looking forward to trying many of your recipes.