Going to the state fair can be a family-fun event with games and rides, but its food alone can be more of an adventure.

Many state fair foods offered range from the tornado dog – a hot dog inside of a twister potato – to deep-fried awesomeness like deep-fried Oreos and Twinkies.

My first trip to the California State Fair, I encountered deep-fried Fruity Pebbles. Deep-fried Fruity Pebbles was introduced in 2011 by Sweet Cheeks, a booth at most fairs across the country – including the California State Fair.

Fruity Pebbles and I go way back to when I was a little girl and it was my favorite cereal. The sweet taste and bright colors in my bowl always made my morning; seeing my favorite cereal in a deep-fried concoction left me intrigued and anxious for more.

Knowing I couldn’t try more than half of the food offered at the fair left me very disappointed, but it inspired me to come up with my own version to enjoy. After much research, I learned the key to successfully frying cereal is finding the right batter to fry it in.

Gluten-free pancake batter will be the best option for this because most deep-fried recipes use a pancake batter for frying and it will give you that deep-fried fair-food texture everyone loves. You can make your own pancake batter with a few simple ingredients such as flour and eggs, or you can use a mix such as Bisquick or Pamela’s gluten-free pancake mix. For this recipe, I used Cherrybrooke Kitchen wheat-free/gluten-free pancake mix because it gives it a more crispier taste over homemade pancake batter.

Although there are not many gluten-free options at the fair, creating my own version of a popular state fair dish not only left me with a satisfying feeling, but gave me my county fair fix as well.

Gluten-free Deep-Fried Fruity Pebbles

¼ cup butter

1 cup marshmallows

1 cup Post’s Fruity Pebbles cereal

1 cup gluten-free pancake mix

¾ cup milk

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

½ cup brown rice flour (optional)

Oil for frying

In a small pot, melt butter over medium heat and then add in marshmallows. Stir mixture until completely melted and remove pot from heat.

Pour in Fruity Pebbles and stir mixture until cereal is coated. Once the cereal mixture has cooled down, shape cereal into balls, place on a plate and put in the fridge for one hour.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together pancake mix, milk and oil until combined and there are no clumps. Take the Fruity Pebbles balls out of the fridge.

Rolling the balls in flour before dipping in batter is an optional way to coat the Fruity Pebbles and, in my opinion, it makes it all easier to coat and fry later.

In large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Dip balls in pancake batter and make sure they are completely coated in batter before frying. With tongs, place one ball in the pot and fry for one to two minutes. You can fry up to four balls at a time, but don’t overcrowd the pot with too much – otherwise, it will take longer to cook and fry.

Once cooked, remove the Fruity Pebbles balls from the pot and place on a wire rack. Cool for five minutes and then dust with powdered sugar if desired. Serve immediately and enjoy this guilty pleasure, gluten-free state fair treat.

Brittany Lambert can be reached at [email protected]