If you’ve been to the Texas State Fair, you know how good fried foods can be (and how expensive) and you realize just how many foods you can fry. I decided to see for myself what I could deep-fry at home from my tiny college kitchen with my tiny college budget. While walking through the aisle in the grocery store, I bounced possible ideas off of my friend. “Fried Twinkie. Fried bananas. Fried pie. Fried cake. Fried string cheese. Fried ramen. Fried mac n’ cheese.”
I came up with foods that college students would eat on the regular or have laying around. I ended up frying only three things due to my limited college budget: Oreos, PB&J sandwiches and bananas.
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
2 cups Bisquick pancake mix
1 ½ cups milk
2 eggs
3 tsp canola oil
1 ripe banana
1 PB&J sandwich
1 package of Oreos
honey (optional)
powdered sugar (optional)
5-10 cups canola oil for frying (depending on your fryer capacity)
*Batter adapted from this recipe.
Photo by Vicky Nguyen
Directions:
1. Prep your batter by mixing or blending the Bisquick, milk, 3 tsp canola oil, and eggs until smooth.
Photo by Vicky Nguyen
Photo by Vicky Nguyen
Photo by Vicky Nguyen
Photo by Vicky Nguyen
Photo by Vicky Nguyen
2. Make the PB&J sandwich. Use more jelly/jam than peanut butter. (The peanut butter flavor really overpowers the jam after deep frying.) Cut into quarter pieces for easier frying and eating.
Photo by Vicky Nguyen
3. Peel the banana and cut in half.
4. Set aside however many Oreos you want to eat. Beware, fried Oreos are really rich and I could consume only two before quitting.
5. Fill your fryer with oil, but not too much. Just enough to allow the items to float and be fully submerged.
Photo by Vicky Nguyen
6. Heat fryer to 350°F to 375°F. Too low and the food won’t fry fast enough. Too high and you risk burning the food and having oil pop everywhere.
7. Fry each item until golden brown. You can drizzle the honey or add some powdered sugar to the tops of your fried creations to add an extra dash of sweetness. Enjoy!
Fried PB&J Sandwich | Photo by Vicky Nguyen
Fried Banana with Honey | Photo by Vicky Nguyen
Fried Oreo | Photo by Vicky Nguyen