Before I moved to Louisiana, I had no idea how big of a deal Mardi Gras is here. Um, yeah, my kids are out of school. My friend Becky in New Orleans has a kid who’s out for 10 days. 10. During the last few years, I’ve really come to love Mardi Gras (lots of fun, very little work on my part–totally my kind of holiday!), so the kids and I were pretty bummed when our parade got rained out on Saturday. To make up for it, we watched The Princess and the Frog, made Beignets (pronounced ben-yays, JUST in case you might be wondering), and I stopped just short of throwing beads and plastic cups at my kids and my cat.
I love this recipe because these babies are not just super, super delicious, but they are so easy, the dough can be made the night before and refrigerated, and they only require one short rise.
Ingredients Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
- Whole milk
- Granulated sugar
- Vegetable oil
- Table salt
- All-purpose flour
- Active dry yeast
- Warm water
- Egg
- Peanut oil – For frying.
How to Make Beignets
- You’ll start by heating some milk, sugar, salt, and oil on the stove top until bubbles form around the edges of the pan. You’ll also get some yeast blooming in water and sugar.
- That all gets mixed up with some flour and and egg to make a soft dough that will stick to your fingers.
- At this point you can either refrigerate the dough for later or continue to the next step.
- When ready to cook, you’ll turn the dough out onto a floured surface, roll it out, and cut it into rectangles, then let them rise for few minutes while you heat your frying oil.
- After the dough has risen, you’ll pop the beignets in the hot oil, a few at a time, until it’s puffed and golden on both sides, flipping half way through.
- When all of your beignets are fried, place some powdered sugar into a fine mesh strainer and generously dust the beignets with the powdered sugar. By “dust,” I’m talking light piles of powdered sugar, not some pansy smattering of powdered sugar. This is a messy operation.
- Eat them immediately while they’re hot!
Storing and Other Tips
- These are best eaten right away! You can still keep them around for a couple of days (or can you?) in an airtight container at room temperature. Just make sure they’re completely cooled before storing.
- Watch that oil temperature carefully! It’s really easy to let your oil get too hot which will result in the outside of your beignets getting overcooked while the middle remains raw. If it’s too low, they will soak up oil and become soggy. Use your candy thermometer and make sure you adjust the heat on your stove as needed to keep the heat steady.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can make the dough ahead of time and store it in the fridge for up to 24 hours if needed. When ready to fry, roll out your dough and allow the beignets to rise for 45-60 minutes before frying.
You can also make them ahead of time and store for up to 24 hours before serving. Do not dust with powdered sugar until ready to serve and make sure they are completely cool before storing.
Pretty much, but they have a few specific qualities that set them apart. They are puffy and soft in texture, whereas a lot of doughnuts are a little more dense or chewy. Beignets are traditionally topped with powdered sugar only and doughnuts can have a much larger variety of glazes, icings, and fillings.
Watch your oil temperature carefully and adjust your heat as needed. If the oil cools too much the dough will absorb too much oil. If it gets too hot, they will brown too quickly and the inside won’t cook.
Beignets
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole milk
- 5 tablespoons sugar divided
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 3 ½ – 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 scant tablespoon dry active yeast
- ½ cup warm water about 105℉
- 1 egg
- peanut oil for frying
- powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, combine the milk, 1/4 cup of the sugar, vegetable oil, and salt. Heat over medium heat until small bubbles form around the edges of the pan. Remove from heat.
- While the milk is heating, combine the yeast and remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar with the warm water. Allow to stand for 10 minutes or until it’s very bubbly.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the heated milk and 2 cups of flour. Mix, scraping the bowl occasionally, until smooth (about 2-3 minutes). Add the egg and mix until well-combined. Add the yeast mixture. Add enough flour to make a soft dough that slightly sticks to your finger.
- At this point, you can either place the dough in a bowl sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and cover with a piece of sprayed plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough up to 1 day or you can roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface. Either way, when you roll it out, roll it into a large rectangle about 1/4″ thick. Using a pizza wheel, cut the dough into about 3″x4″ rectangles. Slightly separate the dough pieces and cover with a clean cloth. Allow to rise for 30 minutes.
- When the dough has about 15 minutes left to go, heat 2-3 inches of peanut oil in a large skillet or saucepan to 325℉ (just use a candy thermometer). When the oil is heated, fry the dough pieces for about 90 seconds-2 minutes per side or until they are golden. Carefully remove from the oil and allow to drain on a paper towel-lined baking sheet.
- Place some powdered sugar in a fine-mesh strainer and sprinkle the powdered sugar generously over the beignets. Serve immediately. Makes about 24-30 beignets.
Notes
- These are best eaten right away! You can still keep them around for a couple of days (or can you?) in an airtight container at room temperature. Just make sure they’re completely cooled before storing.
- Watch that oil temperature carefully! It’s really easy to let your oil get too hot which will result in the outside of your beignets getting overcooked while the middle remains raw. If it’s too low, they will soak up oil and become soggy. Use your candy thermometer and make sure you adjust the heat on your stove as needed to keep the heat steady.
Questions & Reviews
I love your new look! You girls are seriously doing amazing things. Once again, a big congratulations!
Love the new look! Beignets are a must when in New Orleans. Yum!
Oh, I forgot I was also going to mention how much I love the look of the new site! It’s absolutely amazing!
Thanks, Steph!! I’m so glad you love it! 🙂
Hey! I follow your site on google reader, but since the change it has not been updating on my feed. I thought I would just let you guys know in case it is a glitch. Love your site though!
I know it’s still in the process of switching over–if you don’t get Wednesday’s email, please let us know!
These look amazing! My mom used to make sopapillas that looked very similar, but we would bite the top off and fill it with honey instead of the powdered sugar. YUM!
Beignets are one of the things I miss most about growing up in Louisiana! A tip for people worried about making a huge mess with the powdered sugar – my parents always put a GENEROUS amount of powdered sugar into a double lined brown paper bag (lunch bag) and dumped the beignets in there straight from the oil. The kids got to take turns shaking the bag and taking the coated beignets out, which kept us out of trouble, and it was one less mess on the countertop for my mom to clean up!
Ali,
I was just going to comment about the paper bag method. This is what we use here on weekend mornings when I can’t bother to make things super pretty and clean up extra mess. 🙂
Ladies – I say again, GREAT job on the cookbook. I have been enjoying making new stuff and revisiting old friends published there and hubby and I are really enjoying it. The little Brazilian Cheese Rolls are becoming a weekly event! 🙂 Thanks again and keep on cookin’
Awwwww, thank you, MomChops!! 🙂
I love that I know who MomChops is! I like Lolly’s site as well.
I have a sidenote question– I have looked in a couple different places and I am having a hard time finding tapioca flour. Any questions?
YUM! I think the new layout is adorable, but I can’t find the search recipes option. Did you get rid or it? Or am I just a moron? Got my cookbook . . . LOVE IT!
Laura, check out the hot pink tabbed box on the right-hand side–it’s there! 🙂
I make these for our Christmas morning brunch every year in honor of my first grandchild who was born in New Orleans. Love them!
I ADORE the new look! It’s so happy and fun! These look really good, too. We were watching “The Princess and the Frog” the other night and this looks like what Tiana’s specialty is!