• 1/2 cup warm water
• 5 tsp dry yeast
• pinch of sugar
• 1 cup warm milk
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup oil
• 4 1/4 - 5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• oil for frying
• granulated sugar for dusting
• cinnamon

1. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the yeast, warm water and pinch of sugar. Allow to stand a couple of minutes to allow yeast to swell or dissolve.
2. Stir in remaining sugar, milk, vanilla, eggs, oil, salt and most of flour to make soft dough. Knead 5-8 minutes (by hand or with a dough hook), adding flour as needed to form a firm, smooth, elastic dough. Place in a greased bowl.
3. Place bowl in a plastic bag and seal. (If not using right away, you can refrigerate the dough at this point). Let rise in a covered, lightly greased bowl, about 30-40 minutes. Gently deflate dough, (if dough is coming out of the fridge, allow to warm up about 40 minutes before proceeding).
4. Pinch off a golf ball sized piece of dough. Roll out into an oval and let rest, covered with a tea towel, while you are preparing the remaining dough.
5. Heat about 4 inches of oil in fryer (a wok works best but you can use a Dutch oven or whatever you usually use for frying). Temperature of the oil should be about 385F. Test by tossing in a tiny bit of dough and see if it sizzles and swells immediately. If it does, the oil temperature is where it should be.
6. Stretch the ovals into a tail - thinning them out and enlarging them as you do. Add the beaver tails to the hot oil, about 1-2 at a time.
7. Turn once to fry until the undersides are deep brown. Lift beaver tails out with tongs and drain on paper towels.
8. Fill a large bowl with a few cups of white sugar . Toss beaver tails in sugar (or cinnamon sugar) and shake off excess.
9. **Note: You can also top your beaver tail with toppings of your choice - apple pie filling, nuttella & bananas, anything!

If you're looking for a great Canadian donut recipe... this is it!