Toutons

Toutons

Some recipes do not need much explaining. They just need a bit of dough, a warm pan, and someone nearby waiting for the first one to come off.

Toutons are one of those simple Newfoundland foods that carry a lot of memory with them. Fried dough, golden on the outside, soft in the middle, often served with butter, molasses, or syrup.

For some, they bring back a kitchen table. For others, a woodstove, a frying pan, and the smell of morning in the house.

They were never fancy. They did not have to be.

They were warm, filling,
and made with what was already there.

And sometimes that is what home tastes like.

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Ingredients

• 1 loaf worth of bread dough, risen once (or about 1 lb homemade or store-bought bread dough)
• 2 to 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 to 3 tablespoons cooking oil
• Extra flour for shaping

Optional for Serving

• Butter
• Molasses
• Syrup
• Jam

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Instructions

1. Prepare the dough
If using fresh bread dough, let it rise once first. Once risen, punch it down lightly and pull off pieces about the size of a small biscuit or slightly larger. Shape each piece gently into a round or oval patty about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick.

Do not make them too thin, or they may cook too fast on the outside before the middle is done.

2. Rest the dough pieces
Place the shaped dough pieces on a lightly floured surface or board. Cover them with a clean tea towel and let them rest for 10 to 15 minutes. This helps them puff a little and keeps them soft.

3. Heat the pan
Use a frying pan or cast-iron pan over medium-low to medium heat.

Add:

• 2 to 3 tablespoons butter
• 2 to 3 tablespoons cooking oil

Using both works well. The butter gives flavour, and the oil helps keep the butter from burning too quickly.

You want the pan hot enough to sizzle gently when the dough goes in, but not so hot that the outside browns before the inside cooks.

If the butter starts turning dark brown right away, the pan is too hot. Lower the heat a little.

4. Fry the toutons
Place the dough pieces into the pan, leaving a little room between them.

Fry for about 3 to 5 minutes on the first side, depending on thickness, until golden brown.

Turn carefully and fry the second side another 3 to 5 minutes.

They should be nicely browned on both sides and feel cooked through. If they are thick, lower the heat slightly and give them an extra minute or two per side so the middle finishes cooking.

Do not rush them.
A slower pan gives a better touton.

5. Drain and serve
Lift the toutons from the pan and place them on a plate lined with paper towel for a moment.

Serve warm with butter, molasses, or syrup.

A lot of people have their own way. Some like them with fancy molasses. Some with table syrup. Some split open with butter melting into the middle.

However they are served, they are best while still warm.

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Some foods fill your stomach.
Some fill the room with a feeling.

Toutons do both.

Not a lecture.
Not a cookbook from away.
Just a little taste of home from puffincove.