This doughy treat is a huge favorite of mine! My family’s holiday celebration incorporates New Orleans style into the traditional Christmas festivities. My mom cooks a huge pot of seafood gumbo, there’s mardi gras beads along with ornaments on the tree and of course these New Orleans beignets. Every year on Christmas morning, my mom and I would make a huge batch of this French pastry. It really is a just a simple dough, but somehow the mounds of sprinkled powdered sugar and fresh-brewed chicory coffee make this delicious. I’m excited to share the how-to process for making these delicious treats!
Now you can either make these from scratch or use the trusted Cafe du Monde mix imported straight from New Orleans. Here’s the basic recipe for the dough!
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Dough Ingredients
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup evaporated milk
6 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup shortening
1 quart vegetable oil
Lots of powdered sugar
Start heating up your deep fryer or pot of vegetable oil to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, combine the warm water, sugar and yeast and stir. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes. In a large bowl whisk the eggs, milk and salt and beat until combined.
Add in the yeast mixture to the egg mixture. Then add in cups of flour and stir with a wooden spoon. Add the shortening in and continue to mix before adding the remaining 3 1/2 cups of flour. Only mix until everything is combined. You don’t want to overmix because that will make a tough and hard to chew beignet!
The method for preparing thick doughy beignets is simple. Prepare a surface dusted with flour. Rather than rolling out thin with a rolling pin, use your hands to flatten the dough. Keep the dough about a 1/2 inch thick and smooth with a rolling pin at the end of the process. Use a pizza cutter to slice the dough into squares and rectangles. Feel free to make them as large or as small as you wish!
Drop each beignet into the hot oil, 2-3 at a time. Make sure they are submerged for the first 10 seconds. They will naturally float to the top. Use a pair of tongs to flip over and cook evenly. Beignets are done when they’re a light golden brown. Immediately cool in a dish lined with paper towels, then dust with lots and lots of powdered sugar. Don’t forget to enjoy with chicory coffee!
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I’m so happy to share this family tradition with all you. In preparation for the new year, I am experimenting with different blog layouts, photo editing programs and graphics to tie the Planning Pretty brand altogether. I love baking, but I don’t share enough recipes! Usually I’m frustrated with photos, since lighting in the kitchen isn’t always the best. However, I’ve upgraded to a mid-level DSLR camera and utilizing Adobe’s newest app Adobe Post. Now I’m able to snap a photo while I’m baking with my camera, then immediately look at the images on my phone. I make a few quick edits, then add text and share! It makes highlighting my blog content so much easier. I’m even thinking of sharing quick recipes all within one image. It’s a new convenient way for me to create high quality images for Instagram and Pinterest. Honestly, I could bypass the computer altogether and share instantly!
Download the app for free today :)
*This post is brought to you in collaboration with Adobe Post. All content, ideas, and words in this post are my own. Thank you for supporting the sponsors that allow me to create new and special content like this for Planning Pretty.
