Easy Homemade Funnel Cakes Recipe

This easy, homemade funnel cakes recipe brings that State Fair food you love home to your own kitchen. Light, crispy, and delicately sweet, funnel cakes make a great base for everything from fruit to ice cream.

We love funnel cakes around here. Whether we’re at Six Flags or the State Fair it’s pretty much a given that at least one funnel cake will be consumed. At least one.

There are all kinds of ways to make them — I’ve seen recipes with pancake mix, cake mix, and from scratch. I really like my recipe because it comes out crispy and light every single time I make it. There’s nothing worse than a grease-laden, chewy funnel cake!

I’ll be honest with you. It takes awhile to get the hang of creating the perfectly shaped homemade funnel cake. The batter has to be the exact consistency and you have to move the funnel over the oil in an even motion. You are probably not going to get it on your first few tries, and I have been making them for years and still have problems at times. Here’s the deal, so listen closely…

It’s OK. They are still delicious if they are not perfect or if they look more like light colored Cheetos.

You want the oil to be hot enough that the batter fries quickly without soaking up oil. The funnel should be light and crispy. The batter also has to be thick enough to hold together but not so thick that it fries up heavy. Like I said, it takes awhile to get the hang of it and even then there will be times when they aren’t perfect.

We were at the State Fair of Texas yesterday and filled up on our yearly quota of fair food. We tried the fried alligator, the chicken fried lobster, deep fried Reeses, deep fried Red Velvet Oreos… I’m not sure what all we chowed down on. The past couple of years they’ve had red velvet funnel cakes, too. I don’t really care for them because I think they are kind of tasteless but whatever.

One of the fun things about funnel cakes is that they are HUGE. Don’t make them skimpy! I honestly like them best with just a dusting of powdered sugar but the kids like them with whipped cream and sprinkles. Other ways to top a funnel cake are:

• Strawberries and ice cream
• Ice cream and hot fudge ( I like this peanut butter ice cream on top)
• Caramel sauce
• Syrup

There’s no right way to do it. Think of them as a weirdly shaped waffle.

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One thing you will need is a good deep fryer. I have this one from Presto. It maintains an even heat, which is important, and it has two baskets so that you can fry two different things at a time. It’s also got a filter in the top so the house doesn’t smell awful while the oil is heating up. I use peanut oil and I suggest, as long as there are no peanut allergies, that you use it, too. It really does fry light and crispy. If you can’t use it any light oil will do.

Presto 05466 Stainless Steel Dual Basket Pro Fry Immersion Element Deep Fryer

One caution… Homemade funnel cakes, like the ones that you get at the fair, are meant to be eaten immediately. They are no good once they cool down. Make only as much as you’ll eat. The batter will stay good in the refrigerator for about a week if you put it in a Mason jar with a tight fitting lid.

4.86 from 7 votes

Easy Homemade Funnel Cakes Recipe

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Light, homemade funnel cakes are a State Fair favorite and you can easily make them at home with this recipe. Although the recipe calls for these to be made in a deep fryer some people prefer to make them in a high sided frying pan. Calorie count is tough because it's hard to figure how much oil will soak into the cake. The current nutritional information doesn't include the oil. Most funnel cakes are figured to contain around 700 calories... but I think that's high for these.

Course Dessert

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 3 minutes

Total Time 8 minutes

Servings 8

Author Marye Audet-White

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Ingredients

• Oil to fill your deep fryer
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg white
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 to 2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• Confectioner's sugar

Instructions

• Heat the oil in the fryer up to 375F.
• Beat the eggs and egg white until frothy.
• Add the vanilla and milk and blend well.
• Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt.
• Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and quickly blend. Don't over beat.
• If you have time let the mixture sit in the refrigerator overnight.
• Put the mixture in a funnel or a squeeze bottle cut to have an opening about the size of a pencil.
• Hold your finger over the opening and bring as close as possible to the surface of the hot oil.
• Remove your finger and move the funnel in a smooth circular motion over the top of the oil.
• Fry until golden on one side.
• Flip and fry until golden on the other side.
• Remove from the oil to an absorbent paper towel.
• Sprinkle with Confectioner's sugar or sugar and serve hot.

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