Cinnamon Sugar Beaver Tails? What the heck is that and what is it doing on my Food blog? Well because Canadian Beaver Tails are a popular pastry from my birthplace of Ottawa, Canada (home of the NHL Hockey Team the Ottawa Senators). They are so good that I think everyone needs to try a beaver tail once in their lifetime.
Growing up in Ottawa, I spent many hours skating on the world's longest skating rink, the Rideau Canal. They used to have these little huts on the world's longest outdoor skating rink that sold coffee, hot apple cider, and beaver tails!
What I remember from my younger days is that beavertails were a yummy pastry that you could get with different toppings like jam, sugar, and cinnamon or garlic and cheese. Apparently, it's now big business. But why bother when you can make your own at home with simple ingredients?
When I started writing my cookbook and launching this food blog, I was on a mission to find an authentic Beaver Tail recipe. After experimenting with different techniques, this is the recipe that I believe is the closest to the beavertails I had 40 yrs ago.
So whether you spell it beaver tails or beavertails, this is one pastry recipe you will not want to miss!
By the way, have you tried one of the most popular recipes on this blog yet? Then you must try my Cinnamon Donut Bread recipe. Similar to this beaver tail recipe in that they are both cinnamon sugar-coated.
Looking for another delicious pastry dessert you can make in the comfort of your own kitchen? Then check out my Awesome Baklava recipe.
While you are here I suggest you check out all my other delicious Canadian Recipes. Some of the recipes are new while others are well over 50 years old but they all originated in Canada.
For more great recipes like this one, I suggest you check these recipes out:
📋 What Ingredients do I need
You will need the following ingredients for this Cinnamon Sugar Beaver Tail recipe: Active Yeast, White Sugar, Milk, White Sugar, Salt, Vanilla Extract, Eggs, Canola Oil, All Purpose Flour, Corn Oil, White Sugar and Ground Cinnamon.
🥣 How to Make Cinnamon Sugar Beaver Tail
In a large bowl, mix the yeast, warm water, and ¼ Tsp of sugar. Allow the water mixture to stand a couple of minutes to allow the yeast to swell and dissolve. Depending on various factors (temperature, humidity, etc.) this could take as long as 10 minutes.
Add the ⅓ Cup of sugar, milk, vanilla, eggs, oil, salt, and most of the flour to the yeast mixture. Knead for 5 to 8 minutes using a dough hook, adding flour as needed to form a firm smooth, elastic dough.
Place dough in a lightly greased bowl. Place a warm towel on top of the bowl and "seal". If you are not going to use the dough right away, you can refrigerate the dough at this point. Let rise for about 30 to 40 minutes.
Gently deflate the dough. (If the dough is coming out of the fridge, allow to warm up for about 40 minutes before proceeding).
Pinch off a golf ball-sized piece of dough. Roll out onto a floured surface into an oval and let rest, covered with a tea towel, while you are preparing the remaining dough.
Heat about 4 inches of corn oil in the fryer (or whatever you usually use for frying). The temperature of the oil should be about 385 degrees.
Stretch the ovals into a tail shape, like a beavers tail, thinning them out and enlarging them as you do. Add the dough pieces to the hot oil one at a time.
Turn the beaver tail once to fry until both sides are a deep brown. Lift the beaver tails out with tongs and drain on paper towels.
Fill a large bowl with a few cups of white sugar and cinnamon. Toss the beaver tails in the sugar mixture, coating both sides and then shake off the excess.
Cinnamon Sugar Beaver Tails
Ingredients
- ½ Cup Warm Water
- 5 Tsp Active Dry Yeast
- ¼ Tsp White Sugar
- 1 Cup Warm Milk
- ⅓ Cup White Sugar
- 1 ½ Tsp Salt
- 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 Eggs
- ⅓ Cup Canola Oil
- 5 Cups All Purpose Flour
- Corn Oil
- White Sugar
- Ground Cinnamon
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix the yeast, warm water and ¼ Tsp of sugar. Allow to stand a couple of minutes to allow yeast to swell and dissolve. Depending on various factors (temperature, humidity, etc.) this could take as long as 10 minutes.
- Add the ⅓ Cup of sugar, milk, vanilla, eggs, oil, salt, and most of the flour to the yeast mixture. Knead for 5 to 8 minutes using a dough hook, adding flour as needed to form a firm smooth, elastic dough.
- Place dough in a lightly greased bowl. Place warm towel on top of bowl and "seal". If you are not going to use the dough right away, you can refrigerate the dough at this point. Let rise for about 30 to 40 minutes.
- Gently deflate dough. (If dough is coming out of the fridge, allow to warm up for about 40 minutes before proceeding).
- Pinch off a golf ball sized piece of dough. Roll out onto a floored surface into an oval and let rest, covered with a tea towel, while you are preparing the remaining dough.
- Heat about 4 inches of corn oil in fryer (or whatever you usually use for frying). Temperature of the oil should be about 385 degrees.
- Stretch the ovals into a tail shape, like a beavers tail, thinning them out and enlarging them as you do. Add the dough pieces to the hot oil one at a time.
- Turn the beaver tail once to fry until both sides are deep brown. Lift the beaver tails out with tongs and drain on paper towels.
- Fill a large bowl with a few cups of white sugar and cinnamon. Toss the beaver tails in the sugar mixture, coating both sides and then shake off the excess.
Nutrition
Nutritional information provided for this recipe is based on 1 serving. This information is an estimate and may vary based on several factors. If nutritional information is important to you and your diet, please verify this recipe with a Registered Dietitian.
Delicious! 😀
Just made these for my family of 5. They were so delicious and easy. We sent some to neighbours and they agreed that they were yummy!!!
Looks good enough....
I'll try it with a couple of people later
They are delicious!
These look delicious! Have you tried shaping them and then refrigerating them for later? I’d like to have them ready in advance so that I can take them somewhere else to cook. Thanks!
The sugar beaver tails... WOW WOW.. WOW..EASY TO MAKE AND THEY GO WITH SO MANY DIFFERENT TOPPINGS ... CHEF RICHARD...
Yes these Cinnamon Sugar Beaver Tails are Awesome!
I love these and can eat EVER LAST ONE OF THEM.
OMG! I made these today and they are amazing! Made so many I had to share with the neighbours 😄 Thank you so much for this recipe!
LOVE them!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for posting!!!!!
I made this for my family of 5 and we finished the 25 serving recipe in one night! We added a bit of our own toppings to give it a bit more of a punch. But overall this was a really amazing recipe for beaver tails!!!
North Bay - Jan 2021- Since we can't get to the Canal in Ottawa because of lockdown, we decided to try making these at home. What a success!! The recipe made 30 tails for us, and we used half for a savoury dinner with different dips like southwest ranch, dill and garlic hummus. Then we had the rest for dessert with cinnamon sugar & lemon, nutella and dulce de leche toppings. Thanks for perfecting this recipe - we will be making it again!
Why do we have to pinch off a golf-ball size piece?
That size piece of dough, once flattened, will yield about the exact size of authentic beaver tails. Feel free to use whatever size you want.
So happy I found this recipe since you can't get BeaverTails out west. I ended up using closer to 6 cups of flour, but these taste just like the real thing! My favourite topping is cinnamon sugar with lemon 🙂
Absolutely delicious! Turned out very yummy!
The only thing is I used vegetable oil instead, no difference.
Thanks for the recipe!!!
Glad you enjoyed the recipe. Yes you can use pretty much any type of oil that is suitable for deep frying. Vegetable oil or even peanut oil will work. Mind you peanut oil is a little more expensive!
They were fantastic and I loved your recipe but the recipe makes too many. Can I shape the beavertails then freeze them and deep fry them from frozen?
While I have never had to freeze the dough, I don't see why not. Just make sure it's airtight. I would then suggest letting the dough come to room temperature before deep frying. If you do try it I would love to get your feedback on this. Enjoy!