Beignets New Orleans (Plus Video)

What is a Beignet?

Beignets are sweet treats you’ll find almost every patisserie in New Orleans. Essentially, they are a cross between a donut and a fritter.

Dubbed as the official state doughnut of Louisiana, these rectangular treats are deep-fried, pillowy, light, and puffy doughnuts made with a yeasted dough and just the right amount of sweetness with a dusting of powdered sugar.

Recipe Ingredients

Below are the main ingredients that you’ll need in making these popular doughy delights.

• Yeast – An ingredient that makes our pastry light and airy, but use warm water to activate it.
• Evaporated Milk – This shelf-stable milk has been simmered until about 60 percent of the water content evaporates and then canned. It’s slightly creamier than fresh milk but has less fat than cream. (See my guide on how you can make Homemade Evaporated Milk.) Any regular milk will work fine if in case you wish to substitute the evaporated milk, but it won’t be as flavorful.
• Sugar – This kitchen staple is ideal for making all kinds of pastries.
• Egg – This binder is pivotal to the texture of many baked goods, beignets included.
• Vanilla Extract – Give your pastry a flavor boost with this ingredient. And you can make one at home, too. Go check out my Homemade Vanilla Extract recipe.
• Flour – Perfect for sweet and savory dishes alike, all-purpose flour is the main ingredient in most pastries.
• Butter – Creamy and flavorful, butter is a key ingredient bakers use to give their goods a delicious taste and texture. You can substitute butter with vegetable shortening, but I prefer the texture and the buttery notes in my beignets.
• Corn Oil – Replace corn oil with any other flavorless oil to fry your beignets. Peanut oil is pretty good, though.

How to Make Beignets

Prepare the Dough

1. Activate the Yeast – In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine lukewarm water and yeast. Let the mixture do its job for about 5 minutes or until it’s dissolved and looks a little frothy. (Photos 1-2)
2. Add the Liquids – Lightly whisk evaporated milk, sugar, salt, egg, and vanilla extract. Add it to the yeast mixture.
3. Mix in the Flour – Mix in about 2 cups flour and continue mixing with a hand or dough mixer. If using a stand mixer, mix for about 1-2 minutes. (Photo 3)
4. Now the Butter – Finally, add melted butter and mix until the dough is sticky but smooth. Add in additional flour (if needed) to make a soft dough. (Photo 4)
5. Knead the Dough – Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 1-2 minutes.
6. Let it Rise – Place the beignet dough in a greased bowl, turning once to coat it. Cover loosely with a clean cloth and let rise in a warm, draft-free place for about 2 hours or until doubled in size. (Photos 5-6)
7. Punch the dough down and remove it from the bowl.

1. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until it is about ¼ – 1/3 inch thick. (Photo 7)
2. Form the Beignets – Cut the dough into 1 1/2 to 2″ squares using a sharp knife or pizza cutter. (Photo 8)
3. Let it rest for about 10 minutes before frying.

Fry the Beignets

1. Patience – Working in batches to not crowd the oil, fry the dough squares until puffy and golden brown. (Photos 9-10)
2. Drain – Remove them from the oil, making a pit stop on a paper towel to soak up any extra oil.
3. Dust with Powdered Sugar immediately.
4. Serve and enjoy!

Tips and Tricks

• Oil should be at 375℉/190℃ when frying. Any cooler and the beignets will take longer to cook and absorb more oil (not good 😬). Any hotter and the outside can burn before the inside is cooked through.
• When mixing the yeast and water, keep in mind that the water should be somewhere between 110℉ and 115℉/43-46℃. Any hotter and the water will kill the yeast cells; any cooler and the yeast won’t activate. Your beignets won’t rise and get that classic melt-in-your-mouth texture in either situation.
• Beignets taste best fresh, and this recipe makes for about 35-40 2-inch beignets, so invite some friends over and share this delicacy along with some strong coffee and good conversation. 😉

Make-Ahead Instructions

If you make your beignet dough ahead of time (up to three days), you can keep it in the fridge and fry them when you are ready.

Pro Tip: Just make sure your dough comes back to room temperature for about 30 minutes before frying.

Serving and Storage Instructions

Serve beignets piping hot, fresh out of the frying pan. Don’t forget to dust them with a healthy coat of powdered sugar and make a pot of Luzianne coffee.

Store beignets in an airtight container on your countertop at room temperature. They should keep for 2-3 days.

Reheat beignets by popping them in the microwave for 10 seconds. If you’ve got a few extra seconds, try reheating them in your countertop convection oven to get that crispy outer layer back.

FAQs

What Goes with New Orleans Beignets

I like to follow up a spicy meal, like this African spicy oxtail stew or Asun with these sweet pastries because I find it really rounds out the meal.

Definitely serve beignets with a hot drink. Two of my faves are the chai tea latte or a pumpkin spice latte. Usually, I dial back the sweetness of my hot drink to balance the pastry’s sweetness better.

More Fried Comfort Food Recipes to Try

• Air-Fryer Donuts
• Donut Holes
• Zeppole
• Bunuelos
• Funnel Cake

Watch How to Make It

[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”f6rrNboF” upload-date=”2019-09-18T07:55:46.000Z” name=”New Orleans Beignets” description=” Beignets – These  New Orleans doughnuts are the best! Soft, pillowy and light just like the ones eat at Cafe du Monde but  taste even better! You can’t beat Homemade.” player-type=”collapse” override-embed=”false”]

This post was first published in February 2017 and has been updated with new photos and additional content.