I have just found two more references to “de croxegnols”. One is in the novel When Alice lay down with Peter by Manitoba author Margaret Sweatman. You can read the reference here, courtesy of Google Books.
Croxegnols are also mentioned here in the book Red River runs north! a history of the Red River Valley by Vera Kelsey.
This Christmas I made them myself for the first time. I used lard instead of shortening, and fried them in lard also. They were very tasty, but they are filling! There is definitely a knack to figuring out how much water to use, and the amount of baking powder makes them puff up so quickly that I found it hard to roll the dough thinly. Despite that, it is a tradition I want to continue, even if I end up eating them all myself!
As Canadian as can be 
So delicious! Best to pretend we don’t know about the lard/shortening or would ruin the experience. I personally can devour an entire plateful at mom’s, fresh out of the oven, lightly sprinkled with salt. Mmmm.