Bread Recipe -
Fry Bread
(sopaipillas, elephant ears,
beaver tails, honey balls, donuts)
Fry Bread: (also
known as sopaipillas, elephant ears, beaver tails, honey balls, donuts)
4 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter flavored Crisco (I have used
other shortening)
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups cold water
oil for frying
serve topped with cinnamon & sugar mixture, honey,
garlic butter or make Indian taco--see below.
Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together. Cut in Crisco as for pie
crust. Mix in cold water gradually until a soft dough is made.
Knead a few times. Press or roll the dough to 1/4 inch thickness.
Form in desired shape--see below. Drop into 360 degree F. oil and fry
until brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels, and serve hot
with a cinnamon & sugar mixture, honey, brush with garlic butter, or make
Indian taco--see below. Serves 12.
If not serving immediately, may be kept warm for a short time by placing
on paper towel-covered baking sheet in a 200 degree oven. Do not put the
toppings on until just before serving.
In Arizona, fry bread is known as Indian fry bread; a handful of dough is
stretched and rolled to a thickness of 1/4 inch thickness and 8 to
10 inches in diameter; it is usually served with sugar and cinnamon. In
New Mexico, (and a few other places) fry bread is called sopaipillas; the
dough is stretched and rolled to 1/4 inch thickness.
Then it is cut into rectangles or diamonds about 3 to 4 inches on a side.
Sopaipillas are usually served with honey. In the Northwest, elephant
ears are formed by stretching a handful of dough into an irregular
rectangle approximately 8 inches on a side and are dusted with powdered
sugar before serving. In southern US they are cut into rounds a little
larger than donut hole size; they are served with honey and are called
honey balls. In Ottawa they shape fry bread like
a beaver tail and brush it with garlic butter or sprinkle it with a sugar
and cinnamon mixture. There are other names and shapes in different
areas.
For an Indian taco, an 8-10 inch disk of cooked fry bread is topped with
chili beans (yours or canned), minced onions, shredded cheese,
chopped lettuce and diced tomatoes. It may also be topped with a dollop
of guacamole and/or sour cream. Salsa is usually provided as a
condiment.
Almost all fry bread is made from a quick bread (baking powder) recipe
similar to the one above. In Italian communities, however, yeast
bread dough is generally used and it is called zepole. It is shaped as
desired and fried in hot (360 degrees F.) oil. In the Netherlands,
oillie bollen is made by using a sweet yeast dough and adding raisins or
other dried fruit before shaping and frying.
The easiest way to make the quick bread type is to buy a can of biscuits
from the dairy case; split each biscuit (horizontally) in two
(to make 16 to 20 rounds) and fry in 360 degree F oil. If you get the
large biscuits from the dairy case, you can split them horizontally
and then cut a small circle out of center before frying--these are known
as donuts. The easiest way to make zepole or ollie bollen is to buy
frozen bread dough, thaw it, put in additives, if desired, shape and fry. |