In New Orleans, Beignets are a fried yeasted dough served with confectioners’ sugar on top. They are traditionally prepared right before they’re served to be eaten fresh and hot. They were brought to New Orleans in the 18th century by French colonists, and made famous by the Café du Monde.
No visit to New Orleans would be complete without a visit to Café du Monde. Our recent visit to New Orleans was no exception. As we were devouring the delicious Beignets, Susan suggested that we should make some when we got home. I agreed!
When Susan was little, her grandmother made her Beignets. Susan’s favorite part was cutting out the pieces of dough with a pizza cutter. She claimed that prized task with these Beignets!
Ingredients
I used the following ingredients: Water, egg, vanilla extract, sugar, salt, bread flour and yeast.
Rather than hauling out the stand mixer, I decided to make the dough in my little bread machine. I added the ingredients in the order listed and turned on the machine on the dough cycle. Instead of letting the machine go through the whole cycle, I removed the dough after the kneading had finished. I placed it into an oiled 8-cup mixing bowl, covered the cup with plastic wrap, and put it into the refrigerator. I had read that it’s better to refrigerate the Beignet dough overnight, which is what I did.
The next morning, I removed some of the dough from the refrigerator and rolled it out on a lightly floured piece of parchment paper. Because the dough was cold, it took a bit of time to roll it to about ¼-inch thick. I covered the rolled out dough with another piece of parchment paper and let it sit until it had doubled in thickness.
Making the Beignets:
I heated canola oil in a Dutch oven to 360° F with an instant read thermometer attached to the side of the pan. While the oil was heating, Susan cut the Beignets into rectangles that were roughly 2 x 3-inches in size. As one might imagine, the rolled out dough was not perfectly rectangular, so she cut some “scraps” to start with.
When we were at the Café du Monde, we watched how the Beignets were made. A key part was the lowering of a type of grate to hold the Beignets down once they were tossed into the hot oil. We quickly discovered why this was necessary. When the Beignet dough was put into the hot oil, it quickly puffed up, making it virtually impossible to turn it over. Therefore, we needed something to hold the Beignets under the hot oil. After trying several things, we found that the use of two forks worked well as did a wire strainer.
At 360° F, the optimal time of cooking the Beignets was 1 minute, with 15 seconds on one side. At this point the Beignet will begin to puff up. We immediately flipped it over and cooked it for 30 seconds, and then flipped it back over and finished it off for a final 15 seconds. When the Beignets were golden brown, Susan removed them from the hot oil to a plate lined with paper towels.
To finish the job, Susan sprinkled confectioners’ sugar on both sides of the Beignets.
I don’t think that they were exactly the same as those at Café du Monde, but they were mighty close. This recipe makes a lot, so we put the cut pieces that we didn’t cook in the freezer in a single layer for later consumption. Yum!
Other Mardi Gras Themed Sweets
Mardi Gras is a wonderful time to showcase some incredible sweets. Take a look at these – all are sure to produce a WOW factor!
- Mardi Gras Macarons – Laizzez les bons temps rouler with these melt in your mouth macarons filled with a light and airy lemon buttercream.
- Mardi Gras Praline Crunch – Praline Crunch is just in time for all of your Mardi Gras celebrations. If you like caramel corn, you’ll absolutely love Mardi Gras Praline Crunch.
- Mardi Gras Cinnamon Roll King Cake – Did you know that you could produce an impressive king cake using cinnamon rolls? Well you can. I’ll show you how!
- Mardi Gras Swirled Lemon Bark – This is fun to make and delicious to munch on.
- Mardi Gras Lemon Bliss Bundt Cake – Brighten your Mardi Gras season with this rich and moist Lemon Bliss Bundt Cake. It feels like springtime, and tastes amazing under a layer of lemon glaze. Every piece is a surprise.
- Mardi Gras King Cake – The King Cake is a quintessential confection that is decorated in Mardi Gras colors. Purple signifies justice; green denotes faith; and gold or yellow signifies power.
- New Orleans Style Pain Perdu: Pain Perdu is French for “lost bread”, referring stale bread that would otherwise be disposed of. Pain Perdu, the New Orleans version of French toast, is generally made with stale French bread. The French bread is sliced thick, dipped in an egg custard, and fried in butter. It’s perfect for a Mardi Gras breakfast or brunch!
- Pancake Day Pancakes: In the United Kingdom (UK), Pancake Day is synonymous with Shrove Tuesday, a.k.a. Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras. It is viewed as the last opportunity to use up eggs and fats before the upcoming Lent season. What better way to use up these ingredients than with Pancakes?
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Recipe
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New Orleans Beignets
Ingredients
- ¾ cup filtered water
- ½ cup milk
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 large egg about 2 ounces, lightly beaten
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 3-½ cups bread flour
- 2 teaspoons bread machine yeast
- Oil for deep frying
- Confectioners' sugar for sprinkling on Beignets
Instructions
- Add water, milk, vanilla extract, unsalted butter, egg, sugar, salt, bread flour and yeast in that order to pan of bread machine. Start machine on dough cycle. When kneading is complete, remove dough from bread machine pan, place in oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate over night. The next day, remove dough from the refrigerator 1 hour before wanting to roll it out.
- Preheat oil to 360° F.
- On a lightly floured surface roll dough out to about ¼-inch thickness. Cut into 2-inch x 3-inch rectangles. Deep fry, flipping constantly until golden brown (about 1 minute). Drain Beignets on paper towels. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Serve immediately. Yield: 3 dozen Beignets.
Vivian says
So delicious! These were a big hit with the family!
Chula King says
So glad they turned out!
Kim says
Best bread maker beignet recipe ever!!!!