These pillowy-soft Beignets are made New-Orleans style, meaning they're fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth, covered in an avalanche of powdered sugar, and utterly irresistible. Be sure to check out the how-to video!
Vegetable or canola oilfor frying (any neutral cooking oil will work)
1cup(125g)powdered sugarfor dusting
Instructions
Combine water and milk in a heatproof container and heat in the microwave in 20-second intervals until it has reached a temperature between 105-115F (40-46C). Always stir before checking the temperature!
½ cup whole milk, ½ cup water
Pour liquid into a large mixing bowl. Add yeast and about 1 teaspoon of your sugar and stir. Allow to sit until foamy, about 5-10 minutes¹.
2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast, ¼ cup granulated sugar
Once mixture is foamy, add remaining sugar, salt, melted butter and egg and 2 cups (250g) of flour. Stir well. Add remaining flour, stirring until combined.
¾ teaspoon salt, 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, 1 large egg, 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
Transfer the dough into a large, lightly oiled bowl and cover. Allow to rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size (about 1-2 hours).
Fill a medium-sized saucepan about 2-3” deep with oil. Fix a thermometer to the pan (make sure the tip is suspended in the oil and not touching the bottom) and turn heat to medium. Keep an eye on the oil, you want to heat it to 375F (190C). This should take approximately 15 minutes.
Vegetable or canola oil
Meanwhile, lightly dust a clean surface with flour and roll the dough into a rectangle that’s ¼-½” (0.6-1.3cm) thick (about a 12x14” rectangle).
Use a pizza cutter or knife to cut into squares that are approximately 2.5” (6.5cm) wide.
Once oil has reached temperature, fry beignets 2 at a time by gently lowering into oil with a spider strainer or with tongs. Cook about 1 ½ minutes on each side or until golden brown.
Carefully remove from oil and transfer to a cooling rack. Wait for oil to get back to proper temperature before frying next batch of beignets.
Cool beignets several minutes then dust generously with powdered sugar and serve.
1 cup powdered sugar
Video
Notes
¹If yeast does not become foamy either your liquid temperature is not accurate or your yeast is dead. Either way you will need to throw out the mixture and start over.
Instant yeast:
You may substitute instant yeast, if so you will not need to proof the yeast. To do this, combine yeast, sugar, salt, and half the flour and then add the warmed milk and water and stir well, then stir in butter, then egg, then stir in remaining flour as needed.
Making in Advance:
You can prepare the dough, let it rise, cut it into squares and then store squares in the refrigerator in an airtight container to fry 1-2 days later.