Beignets New Orleans
New Orleans Beignets – These New Orleans doughnuts popular at Cafe du Monde are soft, pillowy, and light, made with love in your kitchen. 💕 Forget regular doughnuts because these are easy and satisfying.
I grew up eating mandazi and puff puff, popular traditional West African deep-fried dough I adore. So when, during my first Mardi Gras in New Orleans, I tried a heavenly bite of a New Orleans beignet. Since then, Café du Monde’s beignets (and beignets in general) have had a special place in my heart.
Content…What Is It? |
What Is a New Orleans Beignet?
Beignets are sweet treats covered in powdered sugar that are somewhere between a donut and a fritter. Dubbed Louisiana’s state doughnut, the delicious yeast dough, fried and dusted with powdered sugar, is absolutely divine.
How to Make Beignets New-Orleans Style
Prepare the Dough
- Activate Yeast – In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine lukewarm water and yeast. Let the yeast activate for about 5 minutes or until it dissolves and looks frothy. (Photos 1-2)
- Liquids – Lightly whisk evaporated milk, sugar, salt, egg, and vanilla extract. Add it to the yeast mixture.
- 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)
- Butter – Finally, mix in the melted butter until the dough is sticky but smooth. Add in additional flour (if needed) to make a soft dough. (Photo 4)
- Knead – Turn the beignet dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 1-2 minutes.
- 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)
Make the Beignets
- Punch the dough down and remove it from the bowl.
- Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until it is about ¼-⅓” thick. (Photo 7)
- Form – Cut the dough into 1½-2″ squares using a sharp knife or pizza cutter. (Photo 8)
- Rest – Let rest for about 10 minutes before frying.
- Patience – Working in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan, fry the dough squares until puffy and golden brown. (Photos 9-10)
- Drain – Remove them from the oil, making a pit stop on a paper towel to soak up any extra oil.
- Dust with powdered sugar immediately.
- Serve warm with a steaming cup of café au lait, and enjoy!
Tips and Tricks
- Oil should be at 375℉/190℃ when frying. Any cooler and the beignets will take longer to cook, absorbing too much oil. 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℉-115℉ (43-46℃). Any hotter and the water will kill the yeast cells; any cooler and the yeast may not activate.
- 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 and Leftovers
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. Just make sure your dough comes back to room temperature for about 30 minutes before frying.
Store fried beignets in an airtight container on your countertop at room temperature for 2-3 days, or freeze them for 3-4 months. Reheat 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.
What Goes With New Orleans Beignets
I like to follow up a spicy meal, like African spicy oxtail stew or asun, with beignets because they round out the meal.
Definitely serve beignets with a hot drink. Besides coffee with milk (cafe au lait), I love chai tea latte. Usually, I dial back my coffee’s sugar to balance the pastry’s sweetness.
More Amazing Pastry Recipes to Try
By Imma
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 blog post was originally published in February 2017 and has been updated with additional tips, new photos, and a video
Beignets (New Orleans)
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (180ml) lukewarm water
- 1 .25-ounce packet (7g) active dry yeast
- ½ cup (12ml) evaporated milk
- ⅓ cup (66g) sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract
- 3¾-4 cups (470-500g) all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons (42g) butter, melted
- corn oil for frying (or any neutral-flavored oil)
- powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- 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.
- Lightly whisk evaporated milk, sugar, salt, egg, and vanilla extract. Add it to the yeast mixture.
- Mix in about 2 cups flour and continue mixing with a hand or dough mixer. If using a stand mixer, mix for 1-2 minutes.
- Finally, add melted butter and mix until the dough is sticky but smooth. Add additional flour as needed to make a soft dough.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 1-2 minutes. 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.
- Punch the dough down and remove it from the bowl. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until ¼-⅓ inch thick.
- Cut the dough into 1½-2-inch squares using a sharp knife or pizza cutter. Let it rest for about 10 minutes before frying.
- Working in batches so as not to crowd the oil, fry the dough squares until puffy and golden brown.
- Remove them from the oil, making a pit stop on a paper towel to soak up any extra oil.
- Dust with powdered sugar immediately. Serve hot with café au lait, and enjoy!!!
Tips & Notes:
- Oil should be at 375℉/190℃ when frying. Any cooler and the beignets will take longer to cook, absorbing too much oil. 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℉-115℉ (43-46℃). Any hotter and the water will kill the yeast cells; any cooler and the yeast may not activate.
- You can make the dough the day before and fry them in the morning. Just let it rest for about 30 minutes at room temperature before frying.
- Regular milk is fine if you wish to substitute the evaporated milk.
- Corn oil or any neutral-flavored high-smoke-point oil is excellent for frying.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used in the recipe.
IT IS TASTY, GOOD LOOKING AND APPETIZING AND EASY TO PREPARE
Thanks so much!!
Hi! This is my 4th time coming here for this recipe and each time has been a hit back to back. Thank you for this and detailed explanation. God bless.
Awesome! I am so glad you love this recipe, Ngozi :)!
Hello, Can I use coconut milk?
Hi Favour! Coconut milk will work just fine.
Is it okay if I use instant dry yeast? If so, how will I do that with the recipe?
Hi Ana,
Yes instant dry yeast would work out just fine. No changes needed.
Hey! I have an egg allergy and I really want to use this recipe. Are there any egg replacements I could use or can I just omit it completely ? Would a flax egg be okay??
Hi Simran. To replace one egg, whisk together 1 tablespoon (7 grams) of ground chia or flaxseeds with 3 tablespoons (45 grams) of water until fully absorbed and thickened. Do let me know how it works out for you :).
Hi lovely dish
Thanks, Ene :)!
Hello, I tried your recipe and the beignets were delicious. Although, the dough was too sticky ( I wasn’t careful with water). I’m sure next time would be better. P.S: I got to know about this snack in the Disney cartoon ‘The princess and the frog’. Thanks
Awesome! I am glad you loved this recipe.
Oh, I love ‘The Princess and the Frog’. And Tiana is into cooking too :). Thanks for stopping by, Esther.
Hey girl! I just made these & they are resting in the bowl. I just realized I used 1 tablespoon instead of 2 teaspoons dry yeast! Will it mess these up? My kids were talking to me & I grabbed the 1\2 tablespoon.
Hey Amanda,
I really don’t think it would. Let me know how it works out for you.
Wow!!! Is my first time commenting on your post. I must say your recipes are so unique. I tried the orleans beignets. Wow come and see hubby and the kids dragging for it even before I finished frying. A million thanks for all your recipes. More grace
Hahaha. I can imagine the scene. That is exactly what happens at my house too when I make these Beignets. I am so glad it was a hit with your family, Blessing!
Can regular active yeast be good to use too? Or is dry yeast the only one best for this recipe?:)
Thanks!!
Hi Gisele! Regular active yeast would work just fine. Let me know how it turns out for you!
I did this last night as a test run, came out delicious! Thank you for the recipe and simple directions
Fantastic!! For a test run, I am so glad it worked out great for you :). Thank you for stopping by, Nelvina!
I really loved this recipe. We did it for the first time yesterday and it turned out great. My 5 year old enjoyed rolling out the dough. Lol
Awwww… This is definitely the kind of recipe kids would love to help out with! And eat too :). So glad it was a hit with your family. Thanks for the feedback, Antoinette!
At what stage can I refrigerate over night?
Hi Sejal! After your dough rises for the first time and you cut out the Beignets, wrap each in a plastic film, put in an air-tight container and freeze. When you are ready to fry, put them out to thaw and rise for about an hour. Hope this helps. Do let me know how this works out for you!
Spectacular, fluffy, delicious. Just made these with my daughter. We love it.
Thank you.
I’m making this recipe tomorrow. Looks great.
I was wondering, if I use rapid rise yeast do I need to soak it in the lukewarm water first still?
Thanks!
Hello,
No you do not have to.