Meanwhile, combine flour and shortening; mix well. Stir in yeast mixture. Gradually add enough water to make a soft dough. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 8-12 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to coat to prevent dough from drying. Cover and allow dough to rise until doubled (1 1/2 hours or more).

Cut dough into 36 pieces. Stretch out each piece to flatten it slightly and set it down to rise for 10-20 minutes while you heat enough vegetable oil to deep fry the flippers (we use a large cast iron Dutch oven). When the oil is hot enough to brown a 1 inch cube of bread in 1 minute, the temperature is right for frying flippers.

Fry dough in hot oil (375°F), turning to brown evenly on both sides. Fry until lightly browned, then remove from oil using a slotted spoon. Drain on paper towels and drizzle with melted butter, maple syrup or molasses or dunk in a clean brown paper bag and shake with granulated (demerara) sugar. They are sometimes drizzled with honey or confectioners icing or simply sprinkled lightly with confectioners' sugar..

This recipe makes a large batch, but extra dough (or even individual flippers) may be wrapped tightly and frozen after it is has been allowed to rise.

Submitted by: CM