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We love our homemade funnel cake recipe that is a best-loved fair food. Create your own at home and top with all of your favorite toppings!
This yummy dessert is simple and delicious, just like our Fried Oreos and Caramel Apples! Serve funnel cake with warm Hot Fudge Sauce and powdered sugar for perfection.
Funnel Cakes Are a Family Fav!
We’ve been making homemade funnel cakes since I was a little girl. They’re a family favorite dessert that we all enjoy and LOVE making!
Here is why we love them:
- They’re incredible delicious! They’re fried and covered in powdered sugar, chocolate sauce, berries and whipped cream. What’s not to love?
- Few ingredients. Not only do they take a few ingredients, but they are pantry staples that you probably have on hand.
- Easy to change up. Based on the toppings and mix-ins, you can easily change this recipe to fit any occasion!
Ingredients
- vegetable oil for frying- you will need an oil with a high smoke point such as vegetable oil, canola oil, or peanut oil.
- all-purpose flour
- baking powder
- salt
- milk
- eggs
- Toppings- choose from Whipped Cream, fresh strawberries or blueberries, Chocolate Sauce, Caramel Sauce, Strawberry Sauce, powdered sugar, Vanilla Ice Cream, cinnamon sugar mix
Our Favorite Kit
We love this Funnel Cake kit from Amazon that comes with a large pouring container, metal ring for frying and tongs. We also have gifted it to other funnel cake lovers.
How to Make A Funnel Cake
- OIL. Pour vegetable oil into a skillet (at least 1 inch deep) on medium-high heat.
- BATTER. Add all the wet ingredients and dry ingredients into a medium bowl and whisk until the batter is smooth. It will look similar to pancake batter.
- FUNNEL. Pour the batter into a funnel, squeeze bottle, or piping bag. If using a funnel, block the spout with your finger before pouring.
- FRY. Position the funnel over the hot oil and slowly pour the batter in a criss-cross and swirling motion over the oil.
- FLIP. Using tongs, flip the funnel cake so each side is browned. Remove to a paper towel to drain. Top with your favorite toppings and enjoy warm.
Cooking Tips
Here are some of our best tips for these:
- Hot oil. To cook properly, be sure to use hot oil so that it cooks quickly and starts to make the funnel cake strands we all know and love. The best temperature to heat oil for funnel cakes is 375°F.
- Squeeze bottles actually work better than funnels. Find an old ketchup bottle or something similar. Clean and fill with the batter. It makes cooking the funnel cakes so much easier.
- Use tongs and a spatula while cooking. Use the tongs to make sure the batter is submerged in the oil and use both the tongs and metal spatula to flip the cake.
- EXTRA HELP – We love our Funnel Cake Kit that comes with the pitcher and metal ring. Simply, stick the ring in the hot oil and pour the batter back in forth in there for the perfect funnel cake.
Variations
- Pancake mix. Do not use a pancake recipe to make the batter. However, the ingredients are so similar that you can use ⅓ cup dry pancake mix and add ¼-⅓ water, 1 egg, and 1 tsp vanilla. Mix until combined.
- Make funnel cake fries and bites. Another variation is to make funnel cake fries or bites.
- For funnel cake fries: Follow the instructions as written except pipe the batter in long straight lines into oil (like a churro). Fry until golden and remove.
- For funnel cake bites: Use a cookie scoop to drop the batter into the oil. Fry until golden brown and remove.
TOPPINGS
There are so many great toppings to add to your funnel cake. It all depends on what you like, but here are some of our favorites:
- Whipped Cream
- Fresh fruit – strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and peaches are our favorites
- Chocolate Sauce
- Caramel Sauce
- Strawberry Sauce
- dust of powdered sugar
- a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream
- sprinkle on a cinnamon sugar mixture
Storing info
- STORE. Like most fried foods, they don’t last long. Having said that, the funnel cake batter can be made in advance and can last in the fridge (if stored properly) for up to 4-5 days.
- Reheat. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for later. For a soft funnel cake, microwave them. For a crispier cake, put them in the oven or the toaster.
- FREEZE. Let cakes come to room temperature, then wrap and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. It definitely won’t taste as great as it did fresh but can be made a little crispy and warm if reheated in the oven or air fryer.
For More FAir Food Recipes, Try:
Funnel Cake
Homemade funnel cake is best-loved fried fair food. Create your own at home and top with all of your favorite toppings!
Equipment
Ingredients
- vegetable oil, for frying
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups milk
- 2 eggs
Toppings
- whipped cream, fruit, chocolate fudge sauce, caramel sauce, powdered sugar
Instructions
- Pour about 1 inch of vegetable oil into a frying pan and heat over medium-high heat to 375°F.
- In a medium bowl, whisk 2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt, 1½ cups milk, and 2 eggs.
- Pour batter into a funnel (blocking the tip of the funnel with your finger) or use a squeeze bottle. Position the funnel over the hot oil and slowly pour the batter in a criss-cross and swirling motion over the oil. Fry for 1–2 minutes or until golden brown.
- Using tongs, flip funnel cake and fry the other side for 1–2 minutes.
- Remove to a paper towel–lined plate to drain. Repeat with the remaining batter.
- Serve funnel cakes warm with desired toppings.
Video
Notes
Choose your tool: Although they’re called “funnel cakes,” squeeze bottles actually work even better than funnels for making these. Clean an old ketchup bottle or something similar and pour the batter into it to make frying easier.
Make ahead of time: You can make the batter ahead of time and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2–3 days before making funnel cakes.
Variations:
o For funnel cake fries: Follow the instructions as written, but pipe batter in long straight lines into oil. Fry until golden and remove.
o For funnel cake bites: Use a cookie scoop to drop the batter into the oil. Fry until golden brown and remove.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cake, Calories: 210kcal, Carbohydrates: 35g, Protein: 8g, Fat: 4g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 0.01g, Cholesterol: 62mg, Sodium: 239mg, Potassium: 224mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 3g, Vitamin A: 178IU, Calcium: 118mg, Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
The funnel cake recipe was delicious!!! I made a strawberry sauce to pour over it!!! Thank you!
I love funnel cakes!! Strawberry sauce sounds so good! Thanks for letting me know!
This is so good
SO glad you like it! They’re our favorite. 😀
I’m absolutely in love with funnel cakes! I usually don’t eat them until the fair comes to town. I’ve been looking for a simple recipe to follow and this is the one! I must ask, how many servings are in this recipe?
It really is super simple. It depends on how big you make them but we can usually get about 6 medium size cakes out of it. 😉
These are pretty close to tasting authentic. I found that after adding 1 tsp of granulated sugar and 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract, these are dead on! Thanks so much for the recipe!!
Just curious if anyone has any suggestions as to why it doesn’t quite taste like funnel cake at the fairs,etc.
I followed the recipe exact, but it’s like it’s missing some flavor. Just doesn’t really have the taste I find the events funnel cakes taste like. Want to figure it out. Thanks in advance!!
Although they don’t taste exactly the same they still taste great. I’m thinking at the fairs they probably add lard and use a real deep fryer. 😉
Add vanilla extract
Wow! That looks so good. Better than the ones at the fair.
xoxo
They really are so delicious!! Add some of the homemade chocolate fudge sauce and it’s practically heaven!! 😉
Looks amazing! Pinned!
THANK YOU!!
I know is early but this sound great for breakfast right now 😉
They’re great any time of day!! 😉
I love funnel cakes. It brings such sweet memories of growing up and going to the local fair every year. So much fun!! This will be a great, surprise dessert for my girls this fall. Thanks for the recipe!!
Oh, your girls will love them. Back in AZ, we had them ALL the time… I need to make some asap – they’re my FAV!
YUM! Our family loves funnel cake too, and this is close to the recipe we use 🙂 Tip for those folks who don’t have a funnel… Pour the batter into a heavy duty zip top bag, snip a small portion off the bottom corner of the bag, and gently squeeze the batter into the hot oil in crosshatches and zigzags for each cake. Super simple and easy cleanup to boot!
Great tip, Stephanie! We also will pour the batter into a plastic squeeze bottle and use that too. Super easy and it makes the BEST funnel cakes!!