Homemade Beignets

I know it’s been a while since I posted a recipe but that will change. I cook a lot and have been trying a lot of interesting recipes or things that I would normally not try to make on my own. This time around that would be Beignets. If you don’t know what a Beignet is, it’s a fried fritter or pastry garnished with powdered sugar and sometimes filled with fruit or custard. French in origin, it is very popular in New Orleans Louisiana especially at the world renowned Cafe du Monde. I’ve never been to NOLA nor have I ever had a Beignet, but I’ve had similar desserts such as Zeppolis and Funnel Cake which are also fried dough and powdered sugar. I go to Coney Island Amusement Park here in NYC just to get my Funnel Cake fix in the Summer, just an example of how much I love this treat. I plan to one day visit NOLA and have some Beignets at Cafe du Monde with a Cafe au Lait, but in the meantime I decided to try to make some at home and boy did they come out good! I looked through different recipes on the web to get a general idea of the ingredients and freestyled to come up with a suitable batch for myself and my son, which still ended up being too large.

What you will need…

21/4 Teaspoon of Activated Yeast

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/4 cup of Sugar

2 1/4 tablespoons of unsalted butter (melted)

1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract

2 eggs

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1/2 cup warm water

3 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

1/2 cup of confectioners sugar

2 cups vegetable oil

Preparation

In a small bowl, stir the package of yeast into a 1/4 cup of warm water and let sit for 5 minutes to activate. In a separate dish, beat the eggs. In a large bowl, mix the salt, sugar, butter, milk, vanilla extract and add the yeast mixture. It should foam up a bit meaning the yeast is activated. Add the rest of the water. Gently stir in about 3 1/4 cups of the flour.

Cover the dough and allow to rest in the fridge for about 3 hrs. At this point the dough should have begin to rise. Pour the rest of the flour onto the counter top, pull off a piece of dough and roll it in the flour using a rolling pin or a clean glass. Use a dough cutter to slice or cookie cutters to create whatever shapes you like.

Heat the vegetable oil using low to medium heat. The oil is hot enough when you put your dough in and it immediately rises to the top. Make sure it’s not too hot or the Beignets will burn.

Cook two minutes until brown, flip and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Drain on a paper towel.

Put the confectioners sugar in a tupperware that has a top. Place a few of the Beignets in, cover and shake.Serve warm.

I made about a dozen and still had a lot of dough left. You can refrigerate up to about a week. I added a little more flour to turn my dough into a ball, covered and refrigerated it. The dough will rise again. I will be making more for breakfast since my son tore them up and we are now hooked.

I like mine with Chai Tea & Hazelnut Creamer.

Enjoy!