Beaver Tails aka Elephant Ears aka Fried Dough

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

Yield: 10 beaver tails

Prep Time: 2 hours 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Print

Ingredients

• ¼ cup warm water, 110ºF
• 2½ tsp active dry yeast
• ¼ tsp sugar
• ½ cup cup warm milk, 110ºF
• 3 tbsp sugar
• ¾ tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1¼ cups flour, divided
• vegetable oil for frying (1" depth in dutch oven)
• 4 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon, or to taste

Instructions

1. Mix the warm water, yeast and sugar in the bowl of a mixer and let stand until the yeast begins to foam and get creamy layer, about 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the milk, 3 tbsp sugar, salt, vanilla, eggs, and 3 tbsp vegetable oil until the sugar has dissolved.
5. Mix in about half of the flour, and knead with the dough hook until it pulls away clean from the sides of the bowl. If it's too sticky add more flour, a tbsp at a time. Form the dough into a rough ball, place it into an oiled bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise until the dough has doubled in size, about 2 hours.
7. Punch down the dough and tear off pieces about the size of a golf ball. Roll out with a rolling pin to about 1/8" thick.
9. Heat 1" of oil in a dutch oven or deep skillet to 375ºF.
11. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together, an set aside, along with the melted butter.
13. Gently lower the dough into the hot oil and fry until golden brown on each side, about 1 minute per side. Remove to paper towel to blot dry, then brush one side with the melted butter and dip buttered side into cinnamon sugar,