I grew up eating Puff Puff, a popular traditional West African deep-fried dough that I adore down to this day, which means when it comes to fried doughs, I have pretty high expectations.
That said, during my first Mardi Gras experience in New Orleans, I got to try a heavenly bite of the magical light as a feather fried dough generously covered in powdered sugar that is the New Orleans beignet. 😍
From then on, Cafe du Monde’s beignets (and beignets in general) have had a special place in my heart.
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
- 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)
- Add the Liquids – Lightly whisk evaporated milk, sugar, salt, egg, and vanilla extract. Add it to the yeast mixture.
- 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)
- 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)
- Knead the Dough – Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 1-2 minutes.
- 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)
- Punch the dough down and remove it from the bowl.
- Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until it is about ¼ – 1/3 inch thick. (Photo 7)
- Form the Beignets – Cut the dough into 1 1/2 to 2″ squares using a sharp knife or pizza cutter. (Photo 8)
- Let it rest for about 10 minutes before frying.
Fry the Beignets
- Patience – Working in batches to not crowd the oil, 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 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
Although nothing compares to a perfectly deep-fried beignet, you could bake them if you’re trying to cut back on fat. Simply make the dough as the recipe says, preheat your oven to 400℉/205℃, then bake your beignets for about 12 minutes or until golden brown. Dusting them with extra powdered sugar makes up for not frying them. 😉
Doughnuts and beignets have different shapes and textures. Doughnuts are round, while beignets are square. In addition, donut dough has more eggs, which results in a pastry with more air pockets than beignets. Both are fried, and both are absolutely delicious. 🤤
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
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.
Beignets (New Orleans)
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Ingredients
- ¾ cup (180 mL lukewarm water
- 1 .25-ounce packet (7 g) active dry yeast
- ½ cup (125 mL) evaporated milk
- ⅓ cup (66 g) sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) vanilla extract
- 3 ¾ – 4 cups (469-500 g) all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons (42 g) butter, melted
- corn oil (or any flavorless oil), for frying
- 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 about 1-2 minutes.
- Finally, add melted butter and mix until the dough is sticky but smooth. Add in additional flour (if 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 it is about ¼ – ⅓ inch thick.
- Cut the dough into 1 ½ to 2" squares using a sharp knife or pizza cutter. Let it rest for about 10 minutes before frying.
- Working in batches to not 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:
- 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.
- You can substitute butter with vegetable shortening, but I prefer the texture and buttery notes of my beignets.
- You can make the dough the day before and fry them in the morning. Just make sure you let it rest for about 30 minutes at room temperature before frying.
- 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.
- Any regular milk would work fine if you wish to substitute the evaporated milk.
- Corn oil or any flavorless oil is excellent for frying these beignets.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used in the recipe.
Jeannine Jones says
Came out perfect! Enjoyed with a cup of cafe au lait…..the recipe was easy… tasted better than Cafe du Monde… lol
ImmaculateBites says
Great! Thanks
Sarah says
Do you think peanut oil would be okay? Only because we have our frier filled with that at the moment. Can’t wait to try these!
ImmaculateBites says
Yes it would work out just fine . Enjoy!
RBeckyB says
These came out so delicious. Your recipe was very easy to follow. My whole family enjoyed them. Will definitely make them again. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
DizzyDetroitDame says
OK, so I first tried a different beignet recipe and for some reason the dough didn’t come together right. I found your recipe and gave it another try. I’ve never made beignets or any type of doughnut before. In any case, OMG, they were delicious. I knew immediately as I was mixing the dough that they would be yummy. My son-in-law had been asking me to make them and this was a special treat for him and the rest of the family. They all loved them. There was a slight crunch to the crust and the crumb was moist and delicious. We will definitely be making this again!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!
NBD says
Could I replace APF with Self rising flour, and if can does that mean I take out the yeast?
ImmaculateBites says
Yes you can do that . But it will definitely affect the Taste and structure .
Hope this helps!
B says
can I replace apf with bread flour? will it make it softer?
ImmaculateBites says
Yes you can . However, it really would not make it tender. Let it proof until double in size.
Coby says
These are fantastic!!! Or, as my husband and I exclaimed with powdered sugar covering our lips, “These are freaking amazing!” We went to Cafe du Monde a few years ago and had beignets for the first time, and ever since then I’ve wanted to try making them but was always intimidated. Your recipe was super easy to follow, and my husband said I HAVE to make these again. Thanks for a great recipe!
ImmaculateBites says
So happy I could be of help. Thanks for the feedback!
Lala says
Can I use an air fryer to cook these?
imma africanbites says
Hi, Lala. I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure.
Tea says
Really easy to follow. I didn’t have the stand mixer, so everything was by hand. Wasn’t too bad. If I make the batch the day before, how do I store it? Do I still let the dough rise to double size then put it in the fridge?
imma africanbites says
Hi, Tea. You can cut the dough a day ahead, cover, and place them in the fridge. And then fry them the next day. Just make sure to let the dough rest for about 30 minutes at room temperature before frying.
Leisl says
There may not actually be 5000 recipes for beignets online but when you want to make them and you start looking it sure feels like there are. Ultimately I chose this recipe because I wanted to try making them with evaporated milk and vanilla and this one has both plus the great reviews. They were wonderful! After the first couple of regular size batches it occurred to me that I could shrink them to bite-sized just because it would make them a little less messy and a lot easier to eat. I’m so glad I did! From now on I think I’ll always go the bite-sized route. That’s the main reason I’m taking the time to leave a comment with my review- it’s definitely worth trying a batch that way at least once.
imma africanbites says
Hi, Leisl. Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know. I totally like your bite-sized version of this. Glad you enjoyed them.
Lauren says
Any suggestions for my dough? It’s more like thick pancake batters. I added all cups of flowers and it never turns into dough no matter how much i knead it.
Stephen Holloway says
I is supposed to be nothing more than a thick batter as you described… I simply scrape mine out onto a substantial bed of flour… then dust the top and pat out by hand…. cut and move to they fryer.. If you want to get a feel for the just what your dough should look like and work search the following title on YouTube “Café du Monde’s Beignet | Legendary Eats”
Nubian says
So happy I stumbled on your recipe. This was my first attempt and they turned out great! Thanks to your easy to follow directions.
Siana Robertson says
Can I put these in the oven instead of frying them?
ImmaculateBites says
Yes you can. However, there would be a difference in taste and texture. Do let me know how it works out for you.
Rochelle says
Hi! I am a 21 year old baker enthusiast, and I have been craving beignets forEVER! I live in Ontario Canada, so unfortunetly, no beignets in cafes, grocery stores, or restaurants for me here; trust me, I tried researching and shopping around for some. No luck! Anyways, I decided to make my own, and I stumbled across your recipe that looks so delicious and fairly easy to make. However, I do have a few questions regarding the recipe just so I can get the most out of the beignets for when I make them.
1. Do you use salted or non-salted butter? I am fairly sure non-salted is preferred, but I wanna make sure.
2. I see you use a large iron pan for frying the beignets; how much oil do you use or recommend for the frying?
3. I want my mother to try the beignets too but she is lactose and tolerant. Can I use lactose-free milk instead of evaporated? Or is lactose-free evaporated milk a thing?
I think that’s all. Thank you for sharing this recipe and I look forward to hearing from you, Cheers!
ImmaculateBites says
Hi Rochelle,
Glad you are ready to give this a try.
1. You are right use unsalted butter
2. Make sure you fill your ring pan at least half full, for best results
3. Lactose free milk would do just fine.
Hope this helps and Happy Cooking!
J says
i realised when i finished making it into a dough i forgot to add butter and then i tried to mix it together will that affect the beignets?
ImmaculateBites says
It’s quite a challenge to add butter to the beignet after it has been mixed.