Elephant Ears- everyone loves them!

It’s Time for the County Fair and Time for a fun Summer Family Favorite! 

We Love to go to our County Fair and our kids loved to enter things they made at the fair!  We would enter canned goods,  bouquets of flowers from the garden,  Hand-work and things they’d been sewing through out the winter months. There was frog races for the kids,  a barn of beautiful quilts people made, the animal barns and….
of course our  favorite favorite treat….  Elephant Ears!!!

Well I have to say they are ridiculously priced at the fair, especially when you have a family of eight sooo………….
we would make them at home!  

Yep homemade elephant ears, They are yummy, and  it simply added to the fun Fair week …… aaand I tell ya, they are not hard to make at all! My kids looked forward to Elephant Ear making night, just as much as they looked forward to Fair! It was all part of the fun week 🙂 And you can too…..

Here’s how:
In large mixing bowl
1 1/2 Tbsp dry Yeast (I use Saf-Instant or Red Star)
1 3/4 c  +  1/8c  luke warm Water
Dissolve yeast in the water and let set  for about 5 min.
Now add:
4 1/2 tsp sugar (honey or evaporated cane juice works fine too)
3 Tbsp  Oil  – (I use olive oil)
2 c  all-purpose Flour
1 1/2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Cinnamon

Now using my stand mixer,I beat this up so its completely mixed together but its moist, don’t over beat it.
Now add: 2 cups more of white flour and
1/2c Wheat flour (I use hard wheat flour).

Now knead for about 3 min or so by hand until smooth and elastic dough.  Do Not add more flour.  Dough should be sticky or you’ve added to much flour. You don’t have to get it perfect here and sometimes when I’m in a hurry I just mix it good and knead it  a few times in the bowl, throw a towel over it and call it good. Now let it rest for 30- 40min.  This dough has never failed me!

While that’s resting, get out your black iron skillet and heat up just a couple inches of oil.   Also get some butter slightly soft and some cinnamon and sugar ready (1 cup sugar to 2T Cinnamon).

Next I divide my dough into about 12 pcs.  Next I just shape and flatten each piece of dough into somewhat of a circle, let the kids help you shape and flatten the dough that’s the funnest part. Your kids will LOOOVE helping, as this is fun part.

Then taking one flattened piece of dough at a time, I fry each piece in the hot oil for about 3 min. Flipping it only once.

Then using tongs, I remove the Elephant Ear from the pan and lay it on a cookie sheet covered with paper towels.  If you want it more crispy then cook a little longer in the oil -we like ours softer.  Now using a BBQ brush, I brush it with butter and  sprinkle on cinnamon sugar.

Then ENJOY them while they are warm!

Hope you enjoy a fun Fair Treat right at home this summer with your kids, They will LOVE it for sure!

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Also, You can get fancy, like they do at the Fair, by using pie-filling as toppings and such but we just like the good ole  Cinnamon Sugar ones best!

Here’s what else I do with this dough!
Also on this special night, We make a batch of dough without the cinnamon and we use them for dinner!
Simply omit the cinnamon when making the dough, and do all else the same.

We top them with taco meat, cut up lettuce, fresh cut tomatoes from the garden, and sprinkle on cheddar cheese and a plop-er-2 of sourcream and you have a delicious warm open faced Taco. (Well that’s what I call them).

So whether you go to a County Fair or not I hope you’ll enjoy making Elephant Ears this summer as we do !!