So, I’m Canadian, eh, don’t ya know. As such, I love Beaver Tails, but only the fried, surgery, doughy kind. These are a staple at fairs and amusement parks around here, but with two kids it gets harder and harder to get out to those things as often as I’d like to in the nice weather.
Funnel cakes are another staple, and I’ve got a recipe for those too, so I’ll try to make them next week.
Back to beaver tails. They basically taste like donuts, the sugar twist kind, only you can do more with them. At the fairs you can get them topped with the standards like cinnamon sugar, cream cheese and fruit and nutella. There are also a bunch of other options though, basically anything you can think of. Sugar and lemon, apple slices tossed in cinnamon, or even garlic and cheese. ENDLESS options, and now I really feel like them again. I do acknowledge that these aren’t an every day snack though. Fried dough and all.
Don’t let that frying discourage you though. You’ve got to try them at least once, and then at least once a year from then on out. They are, like, the Canadian national food eh. At least to me.
Also, sorry for the picture quality. I wasn’t in the mood to fiddle with the settings all night…I was too focused on what I was about to eat.
First up, mix some yeast and sugar in a bowl. Let it sit for about 5 minutes and it should be looking nice and creamy, like this.
Add some milk, sugar, salt, vanilla, eggs and oil.
Add some flour.
Let it go in the mixer until it’s nice and uniform and doesn’t stick to the bowl.
Put the dough in and oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise.
Viola!
Just before you get ready to fry, get some melted butter and cinnamon sugar ready.
Roll your dough out. I do about golf ball sized balls. These will make smaller beaver tails that are easier to fit into a pot at home.
Roll them out.
Throw them in some hot oil (ignore how dirty my oil is, we had fried chicken for dinner this night. It was a two birds / one stone kinda meal).
Here’s the beaver tail out of the oil.
Brush it with some melted butter.
Dip it in the cinnamon sugar mixture.
And devour it!
Here, Oliver will show you how. This is Oliver pushing my hand away because I was *jokingly* reaching for a piece. I say *jokingly* because I totally would have eaten it if I’d got it.
Yep, he was quite the fan of the beaver tails.
This right here is just a tray full of delish-ness
Close up? Alright, if you insist.
So, not the healthiest thing you’ll ever eat, but if you’re had a krispy kreme at any point in your life you really have no right to judge. And no excuse not to give these a chance at least once.
Here’s the printable:
Beaver Tails aka Elephant Ears aka Fried Dough
Ingredients
Instructions