Elephant Ears

In my opinion, there aren't many downsides to being vegan, especially now a days where vegan food is abundant and growing bigger everyday. If I had one complaint it would be that carnivals and county fairs are far less entertaining when you can't eat all of the disgustingly awful for you fair food. IE funnel cakes, caramel apples and so on. It's actually a blessing in disguise, but when you are in the heat of the moment, watching your non-vegan friends scarf down giant pieces of fried dough there is only one thing to do. Make it yourself.

Smaller versions of a traditional carnival favorite- fried dough dusted in cinnamon and sugar.

Elephant Ears
makes 12
1 1/2 cup oat milk
6 tbl melted earth balance vegan butter
2 tbl organic cane sugar, plus more for dusting
1/2 oz instant yeast
4 cups ap flour
1 tsp salt
canola oil for frying
2 tbl cinnamon

Fit a mixer with a dough hook.
In the bowl combine the milk and melted butter. Mix to combine.
Add the sugar, yeast and flour. Mix into a ball. Add the salt.
Knead on medium-low speed until the dough is smooth and only slightly sticky, about 5-6 minutes.
Place is a greased bowl and cover. Let rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in volume.
I like to turn my oven on low and place the bowl on top of the range for enough heat to allow gentle rising.
Divide the dough into 12-3 oz balls, about the size of a golf ball.
Preheat a deep pot of oil to 350. Combine the cinnamon with 1 cup of sugar and set aside.
Press each ball of dough out into a flat shape about 1/4" thick, 3-4 inches wide. Drop a few ears in at once, be sure not to overcrowd the pot. Fry until golden brown and puffy on both sides, about 5-6 minutes.
Right out of the oil, dust fully in cinnamon and sugar.
Serve immediatly.

Cinnamon Palmiers

Mini elephant ears! Cinnamon and sugar! Fancy sounding cookies made in less than 20 minutes with little to no effort!...!!! These little bite cookies would be great served with tea or chai.

Crisp, buttery puff elephant ears coated in cinnamon and sugar.



Palmiers
makes 24
1 cup organic cane sugar
2 tbl cinnamon
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 pkg-vegan puff pastry, 2 sheets thawed (pepperidge farms)

Preheat the oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Combine the sugar, cinnamon and salt.
Spread 1/4 cup of the sugar mixture onto a counter top. Unfold one puff sheet and cover the top with another 1/4 cup of sugar. Use a rolling pin to roll the pastry out thinner and press the sugar into it.
Fold each side in 1/4 of the way. Then fold each side over again to the middle. Finish by folding one side over on the other. Slice into 1/2" cookies and lay on a baking sheet.
Repeat with the other pastry sheet and remaining 1/2 cup cinnamon sugar mixture.
Bake for 8 minutes then flip each cookie over and bake 8 minutes more until the sugar has caramelized and the cookies are golden brown and crispy.