Search
Now you can have New Orleans-Style Beignets without leaving the comfort of your home! If you’ve never enjoyed these soft and pillowy fried doughnuts before, you’re in for a treat. Because this is the best beignet recipe!
Beignets Recipe
We’re heading to New Orleans for vacation today! And I’m SO ready for it. But before we head to the airport, I’m popping in so I can share these beignets with you. And while I can’t say they’re exactly as good as the ones they serve at Café du Monde (aka the best beignets in New Orleans), I can say they’re pretty darn close. So yeah, I guess you could say this is my copycat Cafe du Monde recipe!
They fry up crispy, chewy, and golden brown! Dust with powdered sugar and serve warm!
What is a Beignet?
What is a Beignet?To put it simply, beignets are square shaped pieces of dough that are deep fried and generously sprinkled with confectioners sugar. They’re best served hot and are best paired with a cup of coffee, or café au lait!
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”gqVBe5G1″ upload-date=”2020-01-08T23:30:48.000Z” name=”New Orleans-Style Beignets” description=”Learn how to make New Orleans-Style Beignets! AKA Fried Dough covered in powdered sugar! An easy recipe anyone can make! ” player-type=”default” override-embed=”default”]
Tips and Tricks:
- First things first: you need a deep fry (aka candy thermometer) for this recipe. Because if your hot oil temperature is off, your fried dough will be too. This is the candy thermometer I use, and I love it. It’s less than 10 bucks and I’ve probably used it over a hundred times!
- To proof the yeast mixture, your water should be between 110 and 115 degrees (F). If the water is too hot, it will kill the yeast cells, and if it’s too cold, the yeast will remain dormant and the dough won’t rise.
- Because beignets are best eaten hot, I highly suggest serving these as soon as possible! Once they’ve sat, they become soggy and unappealing.
- This recipe requires bread flour. Bread flour is a high-gluten flour that has a tiny amount of barley flour and vitamin C added. The barley flour helps the yeast activate, and the vitamin C increases the elasticity of the gluten and its ability to retain gas as the dough rises.
- The dough does need to be refrigerated for at least 2 hours. The good news? It can be made up to 24 hours in advance!
- You should also know this recipe makes a TON of beignets, so I suggest having friends over to help you eat them all 😉
- Finally, don’t skip the confectioner’s sugar! Without it, the beignets are quite plain. To make “dressing” the beignets an easy affair, place them in a paper bag – a few at a time – with a generous amount of sugar and shake for a few seconds. Be sure to have paper towels nearby too… as there’s sure to be a little mess!
Serve these warm, with extra powdered sugar and strong coffee. And enjoy!
If you try this recipe for New Orleans-Style Beignets, let me know what you think! Leave a comment below, and don’t forget to snap a pic and tag it #bakerbynature on instagram! Seeing your creations makes my day ♥
More Beignet Recipes:
New Orleans-Style Beignets
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups warm water, between 110 and 115 degrees (F)
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 2 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 7 cups bread flour
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 4 cups peanut oil, for deep frying
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
- In a medium-size bowl, add the warm water, sugar, and yeast and whisk well to combine. Sit aside for about 10 minutes, or until the mixture has bubbled up and become foamy.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs until smooth. Beat in the vanilla and evaporated milk. Beat in 3 and 1/2 cups of the flour until smooth. Turn the mixer to low speed and slowly pour in the yeast mixture (careful here - this mixture can splash up if added to quickly!); beat until smooth. Add in the butter and beat until incorporated. Finally, beat in the remaining 3 and 1/2 cups of flour and salt. Beat until dough is smooth and cohesive; about 2 minutes. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours, or up to 24 hours.
- Line a large rimmed baking sheet with three layers of paper towels, set aside.
- In a large enameled cast-iron pan, heat 4-inches of oil to 360 degrees (F). Remove the dough from the refrigerator. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out into a 1/4-inch thick rectangle. Cut the dough into 2 and 1/2-inch squares.
- In batches, fry the dough until they puff up and are golden brown in color, about 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the beignets to the prepared baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.
- Dust with powdered sugar and serve at once!
These turned out great!
Beignets are french not American
I tried this recipe today with some friends and it was so good!! It was my first try at beignets and the instructions could use an edit. I didn’t see in the instructions when to add the granulated sugar to the dough, but I noticed after I put it in the fridge that sugar (not just powdered) was an ingredient. I also just forgot to add salt, so I put more butter in the dough to incorporate the sugar and salt and then I let it sit at room temp to rise a little more before I tried them up. My friends and I were super happy with the recipe and I sent them home with some of the leftover dough because it does make a lot.
I can’t wait to try this for my husband who has been to New Orleans pre-Katrina. I will have to give most of them away because I don’t want too many of these sinful delights in my kitchen. Can you freeze them?
Hi Lore! I didn’t enjoy the way they frozen, so I don’t suggest it. But you’re welcome to try for yourself 🙂
Better than Cafe du Monde! We let the dough rise for 4 hours before rolling and frying, and it was so light in texture. This recipe will be used over and over again!
I have been dying to make beingets to try them before I go on my honeymoon to NOLA and I hope the ones there taste just as good as the ones from this recipe. I made them for breakfast with a fresh pot of coffee and they were delicious.
I would strongly recommend you to try “poffertjes”. This product has a long history starting in the middle ages and is really sublime. The word poffertjes helps you to find it on the internet. Translate from Dutch an presto there it is. A special cast iron pan is needed to succeed. That could be a bit of an issue.
Hey
Can I replace the flour with wheat flour? How will that affect the final product?
And can i use coconut milk instead?
I don’t recommend these changes, but I haven’t tested them myself so I cannot advise how they will effect the final product.
I love them! And super fun to make. If u have a sweet tooth I recommend adding more sugar then the ingredients say haha
Hi does it have to be a candy sugar thermometer or can you use a meat thermometer?
Also does it have to be a specific brand bread flour?
Thanks