Newfoundland Toutons
Newfoundland Toutons. Olivia has a new video!! The delight of every Newfoundlander, especially served with melting butter & a drizzle of molasses.
Originally published on November 5, 2008.
With all the bread baking going on right now I thought I'd update this favourite Newfoundland breakfast treat, especially in time for Fathers Day Brunch!
Toutons: Pronounced tout(rhymes with pout)-ens.All readers from Newfoundland or those have had some connection with this province, will undoubtedly know what Newfoundland toutons are. Most others will not.
A touton is simplicity itself and perfect simplicity at that. As uninspired as it may seem, a touton is merely a piece of fried bread dough.
While that may not seem particularly appealing, it is an age old culinary tradition in Newfoundland, whose virtues are universally enjoyed by all who have known it.
A crispy outside and a tender slightly chewy inside make them very texturally appealing. In my humble opinion this has accounted for a large part of their long time popularity.
Toutons, an age old Newfoundland tradition.
I have never seen anything similar or heard reference to anything similar to a touton in any other place but Newfoundland.
Likely an invention to use up leftover bread dough from the daily baking of bread, which was very prevalent in Newfoundland kitchens until recent decades.
The dough was flattened into small rounds and traditionally fried in rendered fatback pork. Toutons would then be served with 'Scruncheons', which are the crunchy little cubes that are the result of frying the diced fatback pork.
Toutons are traditionally considered a breakfast or brunch item and can still be found quite commonly on the breakfast menus of many local restaurants.
It is much rarer to find them cooked in fatback pork. Likely because modern day dietary considerations have seen an evolution towards more healthy fats.
A move from the traditional.
The toutons you order in Newfoundland restaurants are far more likely to be fried in canola oil than anything else these days.
I confess that I fry mine in a combination of olive oil and clarified butter, a flavour which I have become accustomed to over the years.
The other very traditional accompaniment to toutons, still very much appreciated by purists, is a drizzle of molasses. A pat of butter melting over the top is a tasty indulgence as well.
I use my standard white bread recipe for toutons which you can find by clicking here.
One other idea that I incorporate them into are Toutons Benedict as pictured above or in place of an English Muffin in breakfast sandwiches.
I make slightly thicker toutons than I normally do, split them like an English muffin and use them to sandwich bacon, cheddar, garlic scrambled egg and roasted red pepper. Definitely one of my brunch favourites!!
2017 UPDATE!
One other recipe suggestion, and one I have absolutely fallen in love with in the past few years is this Crab Cakes Eggs Benedict. This could be my favourite brunch ever!
Looking for more Newfoundland-inspired cuisine?
Our province has lots of great food to offer. Be sure to check out this collection on some of our Most Popular Newfoundland recipes.
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Newfoundland Toutons
Newfoundland Toutons. The delight of every Newfoundlander, especially served with melting butter & a drizzle of molasses.
Ingredients
- 1 pound leftover white bread dough, (Approximately)
- canola oil for frying
Instructions
- Form dough into about 2 ounce balls and flatten into 3 to 4 inch rounds, about a ½ inch thick.
- Let rest on a well floured surface for 15-20 minutes to rise a little. This will ensure that they won't be doughy at the centre.
- I use a combination of olive oil and butter to fry the toutons in for more flavour. You can also fry them in traditional rendered pork fat if you choose. Otherwise heat about a half inch of canola oil over medium low heat to about 275 degrees F in a large skillet. (Over that temperature may result in toutons with a doughy centre. You want these to bubble and begin to fry immediately so that they don't absorb a lot of oil but frying as slowly as possible is very important.)
- When they are golden on one side flip them and fry for an equal amount of time on the opposite side. About 4-5 minutes per side if fried slowly, with the oil just bubbling at the edges.
- You can place them on a parchment lined aluminum cookie sheet in a 250 degree F oven for another 10 minutes or so to ensure that they are cooked through if you like.
- Serve warm with butter and a drizzle of fancy molasses.
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Nutrition Information
Yield
8Serving Size
gAmount Per Serving Calories 155Sodium 245mgCarbohydrates 24gFiber 1gSugar 2gProtein 4g
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
Toutons! Love 'em! Yours look a lot fancier than the ones my nan made. 🙂
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When Dad was alive we just cut them open, put a bit of butter and molasses in the middle, and then drizzle the molasses right over the top. I'm coming to NL (Hr. Main) in 5 weeks, will the kitchen be open? 🙂
The kitchen always open!! B.
I need directions! My brother, sister and I are heading into the city on Saturday June 14th so I can show them around (I used to live in Torbay).
But seriously, I can't get the link for the white bread to work. Mom has made bread for years but doesn't have a recipe. I'd like to see how close you are to "perfection". (Of course, I have to say that because it's Mom's bread who was taught by Nan).
Never mind. I'm a twit. The link worked. 🙂
LOL! No problem. When you asked for d1rections, I thought you meant to my house!!! 😉
hey my name is emily and i am doing a hertage fair project and i decided to make a cookbook with a bunch of newfoundland i was wondering if you would know where to find a good recipe for figgy duff jiggs dinner pea soup and dough boys uhh blueberry pudding lassy bread ... i dont want to copy the recipes exactly as they are i want to make them unique
You'll find them right here, emily.
Just ask Barry!
re: toutons. We had these growing up all the time...loved them. We did not have a name for them and we would eat them dunked into a bowl with sweet cream & abit of sugar mixed together. Delicious. (We are of Russian descent & had alot of vegetarian food.)
There are fried breads from all over the world, some similar, some quite different. Do a Google search.
Newfoundland grub.
Can't get any better than this.
Ahhhh Toutons, love'em & still make 'em tho I haven't lived back home for 30 years! You mentioned that you hadn't heard of anything similar~~well, I happen to have~LOL There is something very similar served in Quebec~they call them 'Beaver Tails'~~same thing as far as I can figure out~just shaped different & of course, they aren't fried in salt pork renderings! I enjoyed a version of Beaver Tails,out here in B.C.,that they take from the frying oil & immediately dunk in Brown sugar,pretty good!!
Still, the actual toutons are from Newfoundland. There are recipes for fried bread from all over the world, each unique. BeaverTails are a QUébec creation dating only from 1978. These are not yeast dough. They are made of whole wheat and shaped like a beaver tail. Just not the same!
My grandmother (born and raised in Saskatchewan) used to make "doughboys" which not until I moved to Newfoundland found out are the same
i'm from nova scotia and we just moved over to NL this sept (st john's) I was amazed that I'd never heard of these before but I must say that I'm a huge fan 🙂
Never heard of toutons. they look good. kinda a cross between our pancake and sweet roll sounds like. thanks for letting me know. learned something new today. jj of michigan usa
Toutons are definitely not a cross between pancakes and sweetrolls.First of all they are not sweet like pancakes and sweetrolls.No sugar added to toutons.