Canoe Paddle Doughnuts {CLBN}

Doughnuts are a major weakness for me.  It is so difficult to stop at just one.  Growing up my dad would sometimes pick up a dozen doughnuts on his way home from Juma (Friday prayers).  He also had a weakness for doughnuts and anything sweet for that matter.  I’ve only made baked doughnuts at home.  I’ve never made the traditional deep fried ones.  When I got my assignment from Canadian Living to make Canoe Paddle Doughnuts I was excited to try them out!

These are not typical doughnuts but more like the Canadian favourite Beaver Tails.  We love to have Beaver Tails when we go on vacation.  We don’t get them near our home.  The first time we tried them was in Ottawa.  You can get them with all sorts of different toppings but our favourite was the one that was simply topped with cinnamon and sugar as in this Canadian Living recipe.  I will be sharing with you step-by-step how I made these Canoe Paddle Doughnuts for Canadian Living’s Make It Share It program.

To make the doughnuts, you will need all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, eggs, oil, milk, yeast, salt and sugar.  Be sure to separate 1 tbsp of sugar to be used to help the yeast foam and 1/4 cup of the flour which will be used later when kneading the dough.

First, I mixed together the warm milk and 1 tbsp of sugar in a large bowl.  The yeast is sprinkled on top and left to sit for 10 minutes until frothy.

In another bowl, keeping aside 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour, the flours and salt are whisked together.

Into the yeast mixture, I added the beaten eggs, oil and remaining sugar.  This was whisked until combined.

To this yeast mixture, the dry ingredients are added and mixed together with a wooden spoon.  The dough was very sticky.

I covered the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm, draft free place until it was doubled in size.  I like to warm my oven to 200 C and then turn it off.  I put the dough into the oven and let it rise there until doubled.

Once the dough has doubled, it is transferred to a lightly floured surface.  The remaining 1/4 cup of all-purpose flour was kneaded into the dough.  Knead until the dough has come together but is still very sticky.  The dough gets divided into 12 pieces and shaped into flat ovals.  Covered with a tea towel, the dough then rests on a lightly floured surface for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a shallow dish I combined the sugar and cinnamon.  This will be used for the topping.

Now it’s time to fry the doughnuts.  I lined two baking sheets with paper towel.  The fried dough will drain on these baking sheets.

I used a deep pot to fry the doughnuts.  Taking one piece of dough, carefully stretch it out so that it is about 1/8 inch thick.  I am horrible at shaping dough so mine was very “rustic”.

Each piece of dough is fried one at a time in the hot oil.  The dough will rise to the top and I pressed down with tongs.  Flipping once, they were fried until golden.  They were placed on the prepared baking sheet.

Once all the dough was fried, each was brushed with melted butter and dip buttered side down into the prepared cinnamon sugar mixture.  Turn the doughnut over and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on top to cover any missed spots.

These reminded us of Beaver Tails and we really enjoyed a little bit of lemon juice on top!  I love to make recipes at home of treats we enjoy outside.  We know exactly what we are eating and it’s fun to make!

To get the full recipe, please head over to Canadian Living.   You can also watch a video showing how to make Canoe Paddle Doughnuts.

Make your own Canoe Paddle Doughnuts and join in the Make It Share It by sharing your picture on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #CLIMadeIt.