Beignets

About This Recipe

Beignets are New Orleans' pillow-shaped doughnuts: squares of soft, yeasted dough fried until they balloon hollow and golden, then buried under an avalanche of powdered sugar and eaten scorching hot with café au lait. The dough is enriched with evaporated milk and a little butter, rolled thin, and cut into rough squares — no rings, no holes, no glaze. At Café du Monde they have been served around the clock since 1862, three to an order, sugar drifting onto every table in the French Market. At home the keys are a well-rested dough, oil held at 350°F, and the discipline to sugar and serve them within minutes of frying.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 2.5 cupsall-purpose flour(plus more for dusting)
• 1 tspinstant yeast
• 0.25 cupwarm water (110°F)
• 2 tbspgranulated sugar
• 0.5 tspkosher salt
• 0.5 cupevaporated milk
• 1 largeegg(beaten)
• 2 tbspunsalted butter(softened)
• 1 qtneutral oil (cottonseed or vegetable)(for frying)
• 1 cuppowdered sugar(be absurdly generous at service)

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare

   Dissolve yeast in warm water with a spoon of sugar and let it foam for 5 to 10 minutes. Mix in evaporated milk, egg, sugar, salt, and flour, then knead in softened butter until you have a soft, slightly sticky dough.

2. 2

   Cook

   Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover, and let it rise 1 to 2 hours at room temperature until doubled, or refrigerate overnight for deeper flavor and easier rolling.

3. 3

   Combine

   Roll the dough on a floured surface to a quarter inch thick and cut into 2½-inch squares; do not reroll scraps more than once. Heat 3 inches of oil to 350°F in a heavy pot.

   If the squares do not puff, the oil is too cool or the dough was rolled too thick — check both before the next batch.

4. 4

   Serve

   Fry 3 or 4 squares at a time, flipping every 30 seconds, for about 2 minutes total until puffed and golden on both sides. Drain briefly, then shower immediately and generously with powdered sugar and serve hot.

   Flipping early and often is the secret to even puffing; dough left on one side balloons lopsided.

Variations

• •

  Chocolate-stuffed: seal a square of dark chocolate inside each pillow before frying.

• •

  Savory beignets: skip the sugar dough and fill with crawfish or crab, a popular Louisiana appetizer.

• •

  Praline drizzle: finish with warm pecan-caramel sauce over the powdered sugar.

• •

  Cinnamon-sugar tossed: swap the powdered sugar for cinnamon sugar while hot.

Storage

Beignets are best within minutes and decent within hours; store leftovers loosely covered at room temperature for a day and revive in a 350°F oven for 4 minutes, re-dusting with fresh sugar. The unrolled dough keeps refrigerated up to 24 hours.

Frequently Asked Questions