Homemade New Orleans beignets.

Soft and fluffy beignets, lavishly covered with powdered sugar. Isn’t that something we can all get onboard with?

These New Orleans-style donuts, called beignets, have been my favorite breakfast during our trip to Louisiana. This pastry is made of yeasted dough that is deep-fried, and finally dusted with icing sugar before served.

Homemade beignets with a fluffy interior.

David and I sampled an impressive number of beignets during our stay in New Orleans, already with the idea in mind to recreate them at home. Therefore, sampling was a sheer duty, not fun at all ;-)

Beignets at Cafe du Monde New Orleans.

Among other places, we went to the famous Café du Monde at the French market to stuff ourselves silly with beignets.

Often, beignets come in orders of three pieces, lavishly covered with powdered sugar. Their peak season is around Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) but they are offered and enjoyed year round.

Beignets at a Café in New Orleans. Sorry, can’t remember which one.

Some of Café du Monde’s beignet making tips to keep in mind:

>> source: Café du Monde webpage.

– The dough should be soft, like drop biscuit dough, not like stiff pie dough.

– Do not overmix the dough or you will end up with tough beignets.

– After cutting the dough into squares, you might have scraps of dough left over. Just fry these pieces the way they are. Do not try to remix these scraps and cut again or you will get tough beignets.

– Café du Monde recommends using cottonseed oil. They add: “However you may use any vegetable oil you wish.”

– Cooking oil should be at 370 degrees Fahrenheit (Note: I use a temperature of 350°F/175°C)

– Don’t add too many pieces to the oil or else the oil temperature will drop and your beignets will fry up flat and not puff up. The only other reason for flat beignets would be if you rolled the dough too flat.

Step-by-step recipe for New Orleans beignets

Make the yeast dough and let it rise unti doubled.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment (or in a large mixing bowl) add the warm water, warm milk, and sugar. Evenly sprinkle yeast on top of the liquid and let it stand for 1 minute.

To the bowl, add the melted butter, egg, salt, and roughly half of the flour. With the mixer (or a cooking spoon) mix until well combined. Add the remaining flour and mix until the dough forms into a mass. Now knead the dough until it’s smooth, either in the mixer or with your hands. The dough will not hold its shape since it’s pretty wet. Try not to add additional flour or the beignets will turn out firmer.

Add the dough to a large, greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Roll the dough to 3/4-inch thickness.

Gently deflate the dough in the bowl. Knead it for a few seconds to remove all the air. Turn the dough out onto a generously floured surface. Sprinkle more flour on top and shape the dough into a 3/4-inch (1 cm) thick rectangle with a rolling pin, 13-by-18 inch (33×46 cm).

Cut the dough into squares.

Cut the dough into 2.5-inch (6 cm) squares. You should yield about 40 squares.

Fry the dough.

Heat about 3 inches of oil in a heavy-based pot to 350 °F (175 °C). Fry the beignets in batches until …

Beignets, nicely puffed up and golden.

… golden brown on both sides.

Let finished beignets drain on paper towel.

Transfer the beignets to a baking sheet lined with paper towels to drain some of the excess oil. You can keep the beignets warm in the oven at low temperature while you fry the remaining dough.

Dust beignets with powdered sugar.

Generously sprinkle beignets with powdered sugar and serve.

Homemade beignets, New Orleans-style.

Enjoy!

New Orleans Beignets

Yield: 40 beignets (2.5-inch/6cm squares)

Easy recipe for traditional beignets, soft and fluffy, and lavishly covered with powdered sugar. The dough in this recipe is pretty soft. So I recommend using a stand mixer with a dough hook. You can certainly bring this dough together by hand but prepare yourself for some nasty kneading (at least in the beginning).

Recipe: Ursula | lilvienna.com

Ingredients

• 3/4 cups (180 ml) warm water
• 2/3 cups (160 ml) warm milk
• 2 ¼ teaspoons (7 g) active dry or instant yeast
• 3 tablespoons (40 g) sugar
• 2 tablespoons (30 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 teaspoon (4 g) fine salt
• 450 g (about 3.5 cups) all-purpose flour
• In addition:
• 3 to 4 cups of oil for deep frying (cottonseed or vegetable)
• Powdered sugar for dusting (a lot!)

Instructions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment (or in a large mixing bowl) add the warm water, warm milk, and sugar. Evenly sprinkle yeast on top of the liquid and let it stand for 1 minute.
2. To the bowl, add the melted butter, egg, salt, and roughly half of the flour. With the mixer (or a cooking spoon) mix until well combined. Add the remaining flour and mix until the dough forms into a mass. Now knead the dough until it’s smooth, either in the mixer or with your hands. The dough will not hold its shape since it’s pretty wet. Try not to add additional flour or the beignets will turn out firmer.
3. Add the dough to a large, greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
4. Gently deflate the dough in the bowl. Knead it for a few seconds to remove all the air. Turn the dough out onto a generously floured surface. Sprinkle more flour on top and shape the dough into a 3/4-inch (1 cm) thick rectangle with a rolling pin, 13-by-18 inch (33x46 cm).
5. Cut the dough into 2.5-inch (6 cm) squares. You should yield about 40 squares.
6. Heat about 3 inches of oil in a heavy-based pot to 350 °F (175 °C).
7. Fry the beignets in batches until golden brown on both sides.
8. Transfer the beignets to a baking sheet lined with paper towels to drain some of the excess oil. You can keep the beignets warm in the oven at low temperature while you fry the remaining dough.
9. Generously sprinkle beignets with powdered sugar and serve. Enjoy!

Notes

Some of Café du Monde’s beignet making tips to keep in mind:

- The dough should be soft, like drop biscuit dough, not like stiff pie dough.
- Do not overmix the dough or you will end up with tough beignets.
- After cutting the dough into squares, you might have scraps of dough left over. Just fry these pieces the way they are. Do not try to remix these scraps and cut again or you will get tough beignets.
- Café du Monde recommends using cottonseed oil. They add: “However you may use any vegetable oil you wish.”
- Cooking oil should be at 370 degrees Fahrenheit (Note: I use a temperature of 350°F/175°C)
- Don’t add too many pieces to the oil or else the oil temperature will drop and your beignets will fry up flat and not puff up. The only other reason for flat beignets would be if you rolled the dough too flat. source: Café du Monde website

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https://www.lilvienna.com/new-orleans-beignets/

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