My Nana, who was renowned for her doughnuts, handed down this recipe to me. After spending the entire day skating on the outdoor rink, Grandma would serve us this dish on a chilly winter day. Skating on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa, Canada, is a well-liked pastime.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 40 mins |
| Additional Time: | 1 hr 30 mins |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 30 mins |
| Servings: | 10 |
| Yield: | 10 beaver tails |
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- 1 egg
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons white sugar
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon active dry yeast
- 1 quart vegetable oil for frying
- ¼ cup cinnamon sugar, or to taste
Instructions
- Place the milk, egg, salt, sugar, butter, flour, and yeast into a bread machine in that order. Start the machine’s Dough cycle.
- Once the dough cycle has completed, remove the dough from the bread machine to a lightly floured surface. Cover with a large mixing bowl, and let rest 10 to 15 minutes. Divide the dough into 10 balls, then flatten, and gently stretch into 8×6-inch ovals (a beaver tail shape.)
- Heat oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
- Cook the dough one or two at a time in the hot oil until lightly browned on each side, about 2 minutes per side. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate, and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar to serve.
- We have determined the nutritional value of oil for frying based on a retention value of 10% after cooking. The exact amount will vary depending on cooking time and temperature, ingredient density, and the specific type of oil used.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 290 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 41 g |
| Cholesterol | 24 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 6 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Sodium | 201 mg |
| Sugars | 5 g |
| Fat | 11 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I made these for the first time today and they turned out amazingly well! I only had bread machine yeast, which worked fine, and instead of using a bread machine, I put everything in the stand mixer for 8 mins. I followed all other instructions as written. Excellent recipe!! Easily as good as BeaverTails!
My husband made this tonight and it was the best fried dough recipe we’ve tried. We have gone through about 4 different kinds. We used it for Pizza as well! YUM! Love using our bread machine to make it. Ours only took 55 min. on the dough setting. Our new favorite recipe!
It was so good! I made them for hubby and neighbors and they were a hit! I cheated though. I used frozen bread dough that I had thawed. It worked perfectly! Thanks for sharing.
Perfect fried dough! Will definitely make again!
Sooooooooooooo good. Def the recipe I will use from here on out!
Perfect just like at country fairs. My kids like butter, cinnamon and sugar, and conf. sugar. WTH how many times does one have such a treat! Make sure oil is perfect temp and each side does not take long at all.
Really wonderful! I made these with my Home Ec class and they were a HIT! As our deep fryer is a smaller ‘home’ one, this batch made more than 10. The key is knowing how thick to make them so that they are true to those found on the Rideau Canal. Awesome!
This is a FANTASTIC recipe. The secret to make it perfect is: Form and freeze the dough pieces about half the size as you want the final piece. When you thaw them to room temp and let them rest a few minutes they’ll stretch very very thin. Family rating is “Better than the beach!”- the ultimate compliment. Thank you Erin.
Very good and they are just like the Great Canadian Beaver tail that you get in Ottawa on the Rideau canal. My boys and their friends gobbled them up fresh – really, the only way to eat them. My only comment is to make sure you stretch them nice and thin. Squeeze fresh lemon juice on top when they are hot and then sprinkle with sugar/cinnamon. Yum! Thanks for the recipe. Give it a try!
EH! As an Ottawa native these are the best homemade i have ever had! i like these better than rightt on the Canal because they don’t freeze up as fast! a great variation for this shape is the make balls and gently drop them into the oil then roll in the cinn~sugar mix before cooling. as a beaver tail you can be creative with the toppings as well, i have seen pretty much everything for sweet to savoury (and sometimes gross!) be inventive and have fun! enjoy these around a campfire or around a local rink!