Beavertails were born in 1978 in the tiny village of Killaloe, Ontario, where the Hooker family began selling hand-stretched, whole-wheat fried dough at a local fair. The pastry’s name came from its shape — a long, flat oval like a beaver’s tail — and it took off when the family opened a stand on Ottawa’s Rideau Canal, where skaters have warmed up with them ever since. Today the BeaverTails brand is a Canadian institution, and the pastry is as tied to winter in the capital as skating and the sound of blades on ice.
What makes it great is the dough itself — crisp and golden on the outside, soft and chewy inside, with a wholesome hint of whole wheat. The classic finish is a generous dusting of cinnamon sugar with a squeeze of fresh lemon, but the combinations run from chocolate hazelnut to maple butter. It’s the perfect treat for frostbitten fingers: hot, sweet, and eaten leaning against a canal wall with snow falling around you.
