Easy Beignets

Beignets oh Beignets how we do love you. Warm Soft pillows of fried dough covered in a blanket of powdered sugar. YUM! This is basically the French’s take on a doughnut. Beignets have been made famous for being served with Cafe Au Lait at Cafe du Monde in New Orleans, but its origins come from the French. People flock from everywhere to have these delicious treats, and they couldn’t be easier to make. The best way to describe it is a cross between a yeast doughnut and logaimat. We have tried a bunch of different recipes the only one that comes pretty close is Binging with Babish’s Beignets. It’s a pretty straightforward easy recipe, let’s go through it.

Here is what you will need to make the Beignets

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Variations:

This is another recipe where you can make it your own by making some small adjustments. These are traditionally just served plain with some powdered sugar but you could try adding in some cardamom powder or cinnamon powder into the powdered sugar before you dust the beignets. Our kids love these with a little drizzle of honey. Or try it with a side of our Creme Anglaise ( Vanilla or Nutella).

1. Let’s start with the Beignet Dough.

This dough comes together really easily. It is however quite sticky (that’s how its supposed to be), saying that it is still easy to work with.

Combine buttermilk with boiling milk (if you don’t have buttermilk mix your milk with some lemon juice or vinegar and let sit for 5 min). Check the temperature ( it should just be a little warmer than you) we do not want to kill the yeast. Then add in your yeast and sugar. Stir to combine and let sit for 10min (not longer).

Into the bowl of your stand mixer add your bread flour, baking soda, and salt. Give it a mix to combine.

Add the yeast mixture to your mixing bowl. With the dough hook attached, begin to mix the dough on medium speed for 4 minutes. The dough will be sticky. Transfer the dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover with cling film, and let sit for 1 hour to rise.

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2. Rolling and Cutting your Beignets

Right before we start to roll out the dough, begin heating your frying pot to 187 °C on low heat. (make sure it’s filled at least half way with oil). We want the oil to be ready right after we finish cutting these out because they will rise again quickly.

Liberally and we mean liberally flour your work surface, turn out the dough onto the flour. Coat the dough with a nice layer of the flour on all sides before we start to roll it out.

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Roll your dough out to1/2cm ( 1/4 inch) thick. Trim the edges to make a rectangle and proceed to cut rectangles 6.5 cm (2.5in) x 7.5cm (3 in.) in size.

Collect all your leftover dough and repeat the process. You will have to work relatively quickly because the dough will start to rise again ( we want to avoid this) . We got 40 beignets out of our dough.

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3. Frying your Beignets

This is the only tricky part you will definitely need a cooking thermometer for this. This will ensure that your doughnuts are cooked all the way through.

Turn up your heat to medium and check that the temperature of the oil is 187°C, start adding 4 to 5 pieces to the oil. Using a spoon baste the top of the rectangles with oil while the bottoms fry. After about 2 min(peak under one of the beignets looking for a nice golden color) flip them over and let cook for another 30 seconds. The color should be lightly golden. You will need to check your oil temperature before each batch you put in, this ensures properly cooked through beignets. If the oil gets too hot remove from the burner and let it cool down a bit then start again.

Remove the beignets from the oil using a spider strainer onto a baking sheet lined with paper towels. Drizzle with honey (optional) and dust them liberally with powdered sugar (you can add cardamom powder or cinnamon to your powdered sugar for some extra flavor) or try them with a side of our vanilla or Nutella Creme Anglaise. These are best served warm.

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 If you make these Easy Beignets let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo #thetablediaries on Instagram. We love seeing all the recipes you and your family enjoy.