New Orleans Style Beignets You Can Make At Home

Even if you’ve never experienced the joy of biting into a fresh, hot beignet in New Orleans, you can recreate the magic at home with this beignet recipe. Don’t let the yeasted, enriched dough or frying oil scare you off – the fluffy, sugar-topped beignets you’ll get at the end are more than worth the challenge!

Tips for Making Beignets

Any treat made with dough, but especially beignets, can feel daunting the first time around, but with a few tips and tricks, you’ll be a beignet expert in no time. When you’re making beignets, be sure that your oil temperature is spot-on by keeping tabs on it with a deep fry/candy thermometer.

You’ll also want to make sure that you follow the instructions and ingredients precisely – use bread flour, bloom the yeast properly, and let the dough rest at least two hours in the fridge before you fry it.

What to Serve with Beignets?

Beignets are such a classic breakfast staple, there’s really no way that you can serve something that won’t pair well. If you’re usually a fan of a savory breakfast, consider serving the beignets as more of a “side” paired with eggs, bacon, sausage, or another breakfast meat. However, if your sweet tooth starts the moment you wake up, take advantage of seasonal fruits to accompany your beignets. And, of course, are you really eating beignets if you aren’t having fresh coffee with them? Whether you’re pulling your own espresso, taking it slow with pour-over, or simply firing up the Mr. Coffee machine, always enjoy your beignets with a hot cup of coffee!

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Beignet Ingredients

Beignets are truly greater than the sum of their parts as the ingredients are fairly simple:

• 1 ½ cup warm water, between 110- and 115-degrees F
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 ¼ tsp. or 1 packet active dry yeast
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 2 ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 7 cups bread flour
• 5 tablespoons butter at room temperature

Once the dough is prepared and rested, you’ll need 4 cups of peanut oil for frying and about 2 cups of powdered sugar to top the beignets. As written, this beignet recipe makes about three dozen beignets.

Will you be whipping up a batch of New Orleans-style beignets this weekend?