Easy Homemade Canadian Winter Donut Recipe

Our family has been fortunate to visit Ottawa for the annual Winterlude festivities on numerous occasions. One of the highlights of Winterlude are all of the delicious treats you can find throughout the city. By far my kids' favourite are BeaverTails® pastries. Effectively a flat, whole-wheat donut slathered in butter and delicious toppings like cinnamon-sugar, Nutella, and the like.

When we decided that we couldn't make it to Winterlude this year my children were so sad to hear there would be missing out on all of those delicious treats. I was keen to try and replicate this delicious snack at home — but certainly didn't want to start building doughnut dough from scratch on a weekend morning... So this dad came up with a delicious alternative: take a whole-wheat pizza dough from the grocery store and elevate it to levels it never thought it could reach: donut dough! Enjoy this easy at-home version of a classic Canadian snack and watch your kids gobble them up!

Ingredients:

700 grams whole-wheat pizza dough
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Vegetable oil, for frying
1 stick butter

For topping:
cake icing
cinnamon sugar
nutella
melted butter

Place the pizza dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with a towel and allow to come to room temperature. Add the syrup and nutmeg to the bowl and knead the dough until it is completely incorporated.

Divide the dough into eight even pieces and place onto a well-floured work surface. Dust the top of each and begin to shape into oval 'tail' shapes. Use a rolling pin to flatten to about 1/2 inch.

Heat a large skillet with high sides and about 1 inch of vegetable oil over Medium heat. Once the oil is hot add butter and allow to melt (for added flavour)

Fry pastries one or two at a time for about 3 minutes per side. Allow them to brown, but obviously not burn.

Remove carefully and place on a plate lined with paper towel. Allow pastry to cool and then top with melted butter and other favourite toppings.