Mom's Fry Bread

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Recipes

Mom's Fry Bread
(Reprinted with permission from Louisiana Cooking by Native American Choctaw-Apache. More on author Dorsey Ebarb Bronson and her efforts here.)

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients: 
4 cups self-rising flour
1/3 cup shortening
2 cups buttermilk
1 tsp. sugar
5 cups (2+1/2 lbs.) lard
powdered sugar (optional)

Method:
  1. Mix flour, shortening, buttermilk, and sugar. Knead until firm. Add flour as needed.
  2. Fill a 12-inch skillet half full with lard and melt over high heat (about 325–350º F).
  3. Roll out the dough, about 1/4-inch thick, and cut into squares. Then fry in hot lard a few at a time.
  4. Sprinkle with powdered sugar while hot, similar to beignets. (Dorsey said she remembers drizzling the cakes with pure cane syrup and dunking them in boiled black coffee instead of dusting with powdered sugar. Syrup was what they usually had on hand.)