Mennonite Girls Can Cook is a collection of recipes which were posted daily for a period of ten years from 2008 to 2018. We have over 3,000 delicious recipes that we invite you to try. The recipes can be accessed in our recipe file by category or you can use the search engine.

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Beaver Tails/Fry Bread

'Beaver tails' originated in Ottawa..google it to get the story, they are simply pieces of bun or bread dough shaped some what to resemble beaver tails, then deep fried and shaken up in a mixture of white sugar and cinnamon. I have tried a 'beaver tail recipe' which I found online but I still like the ones best that are made from plain bun dough.

Just take a piece of bun dough the size you like, put it on an oiled surface..I do this right on the counter top, press down and stretch it out with your fingers till you have a fairly flat shape of a beaver tail of course. You don't need to let it rise again but can let it rest for a few minutes if you wish. Deep fry and shake up in a bag with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. These are best fresh and hot! Be sure to leave some plain to have with syrup or honey.

My Mom used to make these on bread or bun baking day for a treat, we called them 'lada koki' and later my family called them fry bread. We didn't put sugar/cinnamon on them but rather ate them with Roger's Golden syrup. In those days we didn't know that they would one day become popular as 'beaver tails'.
Check this blog for bun recipes and when you next have bread or bun dough rising try them and tell us what you think!

36 comments:

  1. I like the name Beaver Tails- around here they're called Elephant Ears.

    No matter what they're called- they're delicious!

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  2. i remeber a place at The Forks making these, I loved them. who would of thunk it was this easy....oh and fresh lemon sqeezed over them...yum.

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  3. Those are interesting. I don't think we've ever had those before. Closest thing we've ever had was rollkuchen. :) Looks delicious!

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  4. My mom often did this for lunch the day she made buns. . thank you for the memory and the idea. .again.
    One of our sons. . .suggested that us Mennonite Girls that cook. . .open a booth at the MCC sale. .how fun would that be? How many do you think we would have to make?

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  5. How cool is that?! I can attest to these garnering the interest of EVERYONE! These are delicious! Thanks for sharing these Betty. I must make them again....as you so kindly shared the recipe a year ago...and now it is time for a repeat of these. A booth Lovella? Oh for sure you would have a huge sell out!

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  6. I have such fond memories of 'fried bread' in my growing up years. It was the biggest treat on bread-baking day!

    I think I am going to be making beaver tails one of these days. Thanks for the reminder.

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  7. We have these here in New England and we call them Dough Boys. They are scrumptious! My kids beg me to make them!

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  8. I had to smaile at the Low German name which means "leather cookies" I dont' remember ever having had these - seems my mom didn't fry much, but I sure want to try these.
    A booth, you say, Lovella?

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  9. Oh goodness, I wish I could bite one of them right this very minute. I haven't had one of those in ages. Maybe it's time to make them for a treat someday soon. I love your recipes, they all look and sound so good.
    Happy Twirls

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  10. OK, I had to try these this AM... SOOOOO good. I'm HOOKED. :)

    LOVE your blog!

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  11. So funny, sometimes they're beaver tails, sometimes they're elephant ears...
    I like funnel cakes, which are pretty close, but a little different.
    Beaver tails though remind me of bannock bread which is also an aboriginal bread. SO good!

    Here's a link to that...you'd all love it!
    http://www.twobay.com/bannock.htm

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  12. I love those and didn't know they were so easy to make.

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  13. I am not a monnite, nor female, but I cook. I found this site in search for a recipe. Beaver tails in Italian (depending on exactly the town) call them SFGINGIA (sf-een-ja) or Zepolli (like the hindenburg), and are sprinkled with powder sugar, they are a simple dough , pizza dough actually, no particular shape. In Boston area they make them like huge taco's (9 inch disks), they are dipped in Melted butter and sprinkled with powder sugar or PS with cinnamin. The French make a version called Bingnettes and they are found in Canada France and New Orleans.

    I would love a bread recipe that some of your people use.

    a simple pizza dough

    4 cups flour (16 ounces scaled)
    6 ounce water
    2 teaspoons salt
    1 packet(2.25 teaspoons) active dry yeast (I buy 2 pounds every other year and freeze it. Vacum sealing works easily as well and can be home made.
    1 tablespoon sunflower /corn oil/ shortening ( I do not like Canola my entire family senses a smell and taste that makes it inedible to us)
    1 tablespoon sugar(optional)

    proof yeast in water, (I like to make a biga or sauer by proofing overnight with cup of flour and 1/2 the water 3/4 of the yeast, then adding in the rest the next day, for pizza or bread) mix in salt sugar to dissolve add flour , (all of it, but check by feel). After it is all in a ball rest 5 mins scrape board, knead 10 minutes. Oil cover 30-60 mins. tear off fritter sized pieces roll out, (or stretch out), while oil is heating. few at a time till golden flip till golden drain. Sprinkle with powder sugar. Sme People make a simple syrup or heat water and honey and mix in Anisette. The Alcohol burns off (you cannot possible get a buzz), and they lightly drizzle with it, (no powder sugar)

    I wil ltry to find this place tommorrow. I just found your group again after losing the url.

    chris
    Long Island NY

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    1. My son often wants me to make these. Call me lazy, but I found the frozen bread or bun dough is the easiest. The frozen buns thaw quickly. Then you just need to flatten them to a "tail" and fry them up. If you see all the recipes that are online, you will find a thousand ways to top them. Or simply, cinnamon sugar.

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  14. The look very yummy!

    Cavy's are guinea pigs ;-)

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  15. These look so yummy. We called them flap jacks. Call them what you like...they are yummy! Kathy

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  16. My mom used to make these too on bread baking days; but only if we were completely out of bread. Mom used to cook up a pot of pinto beans and we would have beans with "jeetz koki" as mom called them.
    In Mexico they are also made into a rope and twisted then let them rise then fry them, then shake them in a bag with sugar and cinnamon. Interesting the different ways and names of this simple fry bread.

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  17. First visit to your blog, I just love it, what wonderful pictures and recipes. I will definitely be try some. Thanks Ellen for visiting my blog today.

    Thanks for sharing!
    Crystal
    thehummingbirdcottage.blogspot.com

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  18. Years and years ago I made something similar with sweet bread dough. In MA they called them Joe Floggers. While hot we'd butter them and put sugar on them too. Makes me want to make some again.

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  19. And since we're eating fried bread--what's a few more calories? Try spreading the hot fry bread with a dab of butter and some maple syrup........ooobie doobie!

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  20. Oh what wonderful childhood memories this brings back...and I love all the different names people give them. Just plain 'ol delicious!!

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  21. Okay - This recipe - Beaver Tails, we knew in our childhood, as - Schuster Platz - german words for Cobbler's Cake.(?) I'm not certain about the translation for the word Platz tho'. This recipe brought back many fond memories & I promptly made the dough. Really had meant to photograph the sweet little darlings but 2 grandsons were here after school & they were gone.........as a friend says - like yesterday's bathwater! Love your blog, just LOVE it!!!!!!

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  22. Mmm fried dough...the convergance of yeast and flower and frying fat have never been so comforting and so decadent. These guys are the taste of every small town and fair in the country. Thank you a thousand times over!

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  23. we called them
    Yeetz kucken

    nothing really yeetzich about them...is there??

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  24. My Grandmother made these all the time for me, but she called them Dough Gotts. She was German-Russian. Very fond memories :-)

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  25. Just found this recipe and it sounds like Toutons that are made this way and then served with molasses and tea in Newfoundland! I must try these soon (should have made them for Canada Day! Love your blog!

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  26. I have recently found MGCC and go there on a daily basis. I also enjoy some your personal blogs....inspiring!In Montana we call this fry bread and along with the cinnamon/sugar on them we serve them with a maple frosting. Also we make them larger and layer them with taco meat and all the trimmings and call them Indian tacos. At our local fair they somehow cut the dough up and fry the pieces and call them fry bread fries and you can top them with maple frosting or cinnamon/sugar...

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  27. We always called these "pracha koki" or beggars cookies in English.
    We would eat them hot out of the pan, dipped in a mixture of sugar and cinnamon that had been moistened just a bit wit milk. Yum. Makes me want to go out and do them right now.

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  28. So interesting all the different ethnic backgrounds and all the different names for the same thing. I never grew up with this but my husband did. He called them Yeetze Kuchen. Back in the days they probably were all out of bread and the bread wasn't ready so this would have been a quick lunch. Also brown sugar and milk in a plate just enough liquid to make a syrup and dip each bite. If my husband is working locally and I'm making buns he will come home for lunch, busy or not. Love this site keep posting recipes and the blog is neat too. Sasskatchewan girl

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  29. In the late 1960's and early 1970's these were sold as Rocky Mountain Dough Boys at The PNE in August each year. You got 1 big plate sized one and put butter and syurp on it. Boy it filled you up! LOL. If you do make them for a fair or something you better have lots of people working making and selling them! There was always a line up to buy these. I don't know how much they made selling them, but way back then at a $ each , they were selling a whole lot of them! They always seemed to have about 16 people working to make them and sell them and some times it seemed they couldn't keep up. Good luck with the idea and the sale. And thanks for the recipe.

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  30. Hungarians eat tonnes of 'langos' (pronounced langosh) - essentially the same thing as beaver tails, but I think better. Beavertails are too thin and because crunchy. Langos are doughy mattresses in search of a topping. More like a donut than a crispy cracker. In Hungary they typically rub garlic and throw a little salt on them, but there are many sweet varieties as well. You can sprinkle powdered sugar mixed with cocoa on them, put syrups and jams on them, smear nutella on them - it's all good. If you're in Edmonton for Heritage Days, in Winnipeg for Folklorama, or anywhere there's a Hungarian food tent, langos is likely being served.

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  31. My Mom called it shortening bread. She just fried them in shortening in a frying pan and we put butter or syrup on them. Had them in Newfoundland when I was there in October and they call them Toutons, served with molasses or syrup - Yummy! On almost every menu there. Hadn't had anything like them since I was a child.

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  32. Fried bread! never tried that before but the look very yummy! .. Thanks for sharing :)

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  33. I made these today on a whim...never done anything like it before. I used pot full of oil on the stove. Instead of burning down my house I became "Dad of the Year"....maybe even "Parent of the Year"....it's only February though so my hopes are not high

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for letting us know that these 'beaver tails' made you popular in your family!😊

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