Canadian Fried Dough: Beaver Tails recipe for a Canadian classic, fried donut like pastries with cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top.

Happy Canada Day! What better way to celebrate than with a beaver tails recipe. Beaver Tails are a Canadian classic! They are a favourite around here, so we thought we’d give our own version of Canadian Fried Dough a try -and they were a big hit!

Get Our Free Easy Favourites Cookbook

We've collected some of our very favourite recipes that are easy to make and put them together in a mini cookbook. Get it free for a limited time!

The dough for these donut-like pastries is traditionally made from whole wheat flour, and adds a delicious flavour to them. I’m not too used to cooking with yeast, but I followed the recipe closely and had great results, so don’t be intimidated if you’re not used to cooking with yeast either.

The dough rises, to a lovely soft, and smooth consistency. Then the dough is formed into the beaver tail, or canoe paddle shape.

After frying, there are all different ways to top these off, but we kept to the traditional cinnamon sugar, and they were so, so yummy!

Canadian Fried Dough -Beaver Tails

Ingredients

1/2 cup warm water (45 degrees C)
5 tsp active dry yeast
pinch white sugar
1 cup warm milk (45 degrees C)
1/3 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup Mozola Canola Oil
5 - 6 cups whole wheat flour
1-2 Liters of Mozola Canola Oil for frying
2 cups white sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

Combine warm water, yeast, and a pinch of sugar in the bowl of stand mixer and let sit around 5 min. until the yeast begins to foam.
Stir in warm milk, sugar, salt, vanilla, eggs, and oil. Add in flour, mixing, until dough is no longer sticky, using around 5 - 6 cups of flour. Mix with dough hook in stand mixer until the dough is smooth, and elastic. Remove from the bowl, and form dough into a ball. Oil a large bowl and put the dough inside to rise, covered with plastic wrap, until the dough has doubled in size, about an hour.
Punch down the dough and kneed the dough back into shape. Divide the dough into egg sized portions and roll or stretch with your hands into an oval shape. Dough should be about 1/4 inch thick. Cover so the dough doesn't dry out while you finish shaping the rest.
Heat Mazola Canola Oil in a deep fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
In a shallow dish or plate, combine 2 cups of white sugar with cinnamon to make the cinnamon sugar topping.
Fry dough pieces, one at a time, for a few minutes per side, until golden brown. As soon as the dough is removed from the fryer, coat in cinnamon sugar mixture, pressing it in and shaking to remove excess. These are best enjoyed the day you make them.