New Orleans Beignets
These beignets, popular at New Orleans‘ Café du Monde, are soft, pillowy, and light, made with love in your kitchen. Forget regular doughnuts because these are easy and satisfying.
I grew up eating mandazi and puff puff, popular traditional West African deep-fried dough, which I adore. So when, during my first Mardi Gras in New Orleans, I tried a heavenly bite of a beignet. Since then, Café du Monde’s beignets have had a special place in my heart.
What Is a Beignet?
Beignets are sweet treats covered in powdered sugar that are somewhere between a donut and a fritter. Dubbed Louisiana’s state doughnut, the delicious yeast dough, fried and dusted with powdered sugar, is absolutely divine.
How to Make Beignets
- Activate the yeast in warm water for about 5 minutes or until it dissolves and looks frothy. (Photo 1)
- Whisk the evaporated milk, sugar, salt, egg, egg yolks, and vanilla extract, then add it to the yeast mixture.
- Add about 2 cups of flour and continue mixing with a hand or dough mixer. If using a stand mixer, mix for about 1-2 minutes. (Photo 2)
- Mix in the melted butter (at least softened for easy mixing) until the dough is sticky but smooth, adding flour as needed to make a soft dough. Knead the dough for 1-2 minutes.
- Let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free place for about 2 hours or until doubled in size. Punch it down and dump it out on a lightly floured surface. (Photos 3-4)
- Roll it out until it is about ¼-⅓” thick. Cut it into 1½-2″ squares using a sharp knife or pizza cutter. (Photos 5-6)
- Fry it after letting the beignets rest for about 10 minutes, working in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan. Flip once and fry until puffy and golden brown on both sides. (Photo 7)
- Drain excess oil and dust with powdered sugar. Enjoy! (Photo 8)
Tips and Tricks
- Oil should be at 375℉ (190℃) when frying. Any cooler and the beignets will take longer to cook, absorbing too much oil. Any hotter and the outside can burn before the inside is cooked through.
- Beignets taste best fresh, and this recipe makes about 35-40 two-inch beignets, so invite some friends over and share this delicacy along with some strong coffee and cheerful conversation.
Make-Ahead and Leftovers
If you make your beignet dough ahead of time (up to three days), you can keep it in the fridge and make them when you are ready. Just make sure your dough comes back to room temperature for about 30 minutes before frying.
Store fried beignets in an airtight container on your countertop at room temperature for 2-3 days, or freeze them for 3-4 months.
Reheat by popping them in the microwave for 10 seconds. If you’ve got a few extra seconds, try reheating them in your countertop convection oven to get that crispy outer layer back.
What Goes With New Orleans Beignets
I like to follow up a spicy meal, like African spicy oxtail stew or asun, with beignets because they round out the meal.
Definitely serve beignets with a hot drink. Besides coffee with milk (café au lait), I love chai tea latte. Usually, I dial back my coffee’s sugar to balance the pastry’s sweetness.
More Amazing Pastries to Try
By Imma
Watch How to Make It
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”f6rrNboF” upload-date=”2019-09-18T07:55:46.000Z” name=”New Orleans Beignets” description=” Beignets – These New Orleans doughnuts are the best! Soft, pillowy and light just like the ones eat at Cafe du Monde but taste even better! You can’t beat Homemade.” player-type=”collapse” override-embed=”false”]
This blog post was originally published in February 2017 and has been updated with additional tips, new photos, and a video.
New Orleans Beignets
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (180ml) lukewarm water
- 1 ¼-ounce packet (7g) active dry yeast
- ½ cup (120ml) evaporated milk
- ¼ cup (60ml) water
- ⅓ cup (66g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon (6g) salt
- 1 whole egg
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract
- 3½-4 cups (470-500g) all-purpose flour (start with 3 cups and add more as needed)
- 4 tablespoons (60g) butter, melted or at least softened
- corn oil for frying (or any neutral-flavored oil)
- powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine lukewarm water and yeast. Let the mixture do its job for about 5 minutes or until it's dissolved and looks a little frothy.
- Lightly whisk evaporated milk, sugar, salt, egg, egg yolks, and vanilla extract. Add it to the yeast mixture.
- Mix in about 2 cups of flour and continue mixing with a hand or dough mixer. If using a stand mixer, mix for 1-2 minutes.
- Finally, add melted butter and mix until the dough is sticky but smooth. Add additional flour as needed to make a soft dough.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 1-2 minutes. Place the beignet dough in a greased bowl, turning once to coat it. Cover loosely with a clean cloth and let rise in a warm, draft-free place for about 2 hours or until doubled in size.
- Punch the dough down and remove it from the bowl. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until ¼-⅓ inch thick.
- Cut the dough into 1½-2-inch squares using a sharp knife or pizza cutter. Let it rest for about 10 minutes before frying.
- Working in batches so as not to crowd the oil, fry the dough squares until puffy and golden brown.
- Remove them from the oil, making a pit stop on a paper towel to soak up any extra oil.
- Dust with powdered sugar immediately. Serve hot with café au lait, and enjoy!
Tips & Notes:
- When mixing the yeast and water, keep in mind that the water should be somewhere between 110℉-115℉ (43-46℃). Any hotter and the water will kill the yeast cells; any cooler and the yeast may not activate.
- Regular milk is fine if you wish to substitute the evaporated milk.
- If you prefer brown sugar, you can substitute up to 2 tablespoons (half) for the granulated sugar.
- Corn oil or any neutral-flavored high-smoke-point oil is excellent for frying.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used in the recipe.
This recipe is well written and easy to follow. I used rapid rise yeast but otherwise followed the recipe and I will definitely make these again. Thank you so much for sharing.
You’re welcome, Kelly :)!
At what point would you refrigerate overnight? After punching down? After rolling out?
You can refrigerate after punching down or rolling out . They both work.
Quick question…..how long do you deep fry each batch?
It doesn’t take long. Usually 2-3 minutes, but it could take 5 minutes if you’re at high altitude. Hope that helps.❤️
I just had a question can i use instant yeast
Yes, you absolutely can. My post on yeast substitutes explains you can add it directly to the dough, and you’re good. https://www.africanbites.com/substitute-for-yeast/
I use about 4 cups of flour. It makes dozens of beignets. After deep frying them I let them cool some and freeze them for later. I heat them in a new wave oven 2 minutes each side. They come out crispier than eaten right away. Freezing is the way to go. You can’t store them any other way and expect a tasty beignets.
Thanks for sharing your amazing experience. Happy lovely weekend, try some other amazing recipes to feel special.
I never tasted a Kristy Kreme donut, but these are amazing! My girls agree they’re better than the fancy (expensive) bakery down the street. Thanks for the great recipe!
Oops! This review is for the other recipe. Not sure how it got posted here or why I can’t remove it now. Lol!
I’ve had Krispy Kreme donuts. They’re the most amazing cloud soft pillowy donuts that melt in your mouth you’ll ever experience. I’m from SC, so they’re a staple in the local diet. If you didn’t sell them to fundraise as a kid, you didn’t grow up in here. Lol I also love love love beignets. We made them in French class and I’ve been in love ever since. Now what recipe are you talking about that Krispy Kreme came up? I’m dying to know!!
Thank you so much for your feedback. And I’m so happy you loved them.
YOU ARE A GENIUS. These were incredible. I followed your advice and refrigerated some of the dough for the next day, and was in heaven all over again. Made some quick caramel (because I had feelings I needed to eat), and will be making these again and again. Thanks for another phenomenal recipe!
We add in 2 cups of flour and mix 1-2 min. Then we add the butter… When does the rest of the flour get added – before or after the butter?
You start with 2 cups of flour, then after mixing in the butter, you add as much as you need to get the right texture (step 4). You’ll also need flour for kneading so your dough doesn’t stick to the surface (step 5). Please let me know how it turns out! :heart_eyes:
Delicious! Easy to follow recipe results in yummy beignets! We can’t wait to make these again! Thank you!
Oh my! These are delicious! Since I am new to any kind of yeast baking, I made sure I did not over flour the dough this time but followed your instructions to leave it sticky. But not too sticky that I couldn’t work with it.
I was scared my inexperience would cause them to not turn out right but they turned out fabulously! Thank you for this recipe and the steps you included!
I have one question for you. Can I use bread flour in these? I recently bought bread flour only to find out that most bread recipes do not use bread flour. Much to my surprise!
I would like to make these again and use this bag of bread flour. What is your advice?
Thanks so much for your feedback, Anne! Glad you loved this. Yes, you can use bread flour, 1:1. Enjoy!
Had a beignet today for first time. Live in Mich, and had one inFrankenmuth, a touresty town. My gr-daughter bought some there and said they had a dip for them. She said there were several kinds but was rediculously expensive so wouldn’t buy any. I am planning on making them this week and if you know of any dips, would like them also. Your picture looks a better than their’s.
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Hi Isabel! Would love to know how my Beignets recipe turns out for you 🙂 Unfortunately, I don’t have a recipe for a Beignet dip, but if you want to fill/stuff this beignet with chocolate or jam or cream, you can do so. Just use a piping bag of your filling of choice and poke the side of the beignet with the tip of the piping bag and press the filling in. Enjoy!
I would just heat up some heavy cream and melt some caramels (probably even ratio of each) into it to make an easy and delish caramel sauce – And/Or instead of caramels, can also let some good quality chocolate chips sit in cream that’s been heated with a little sugar and a pat of butter – after the chocolate suits in the hot cream a few minutes, stir until it’s all melted into make a super luxurious, saucy ganache! And/Or lookup a nice creme anglais recipe to pair with it. My fav is just dipping into some cafe con leche!! Yum! CAN’T WAIT to try this recipe, it sounds perfect! TYSM for sharing. I used to live in NOLA and miss beignets dearly. I haven’t found a good enough recipe yet, but I have a feeling this one will be a keeper!
Hi Lula, sure you can try it and you would love it. Happy New Year!
These are amazing! They came out perfect the first time, and we make them for all the birthday breakfasts in our family! I love a lot of Immaculate Bites recipes!
Woohoo! Thank you, Cat! I hope you’ll also try my Banana Bread Muffins, too. Perfect for birthday breakfast or snack 🙂
My children loved it – it was fluffy and soft! The evaporated milk really was a game changer. This recipe is definitely a keeper! Thank you!
Woohoo! Thank you, Atika! I hope you you can also give Snowball Cookies a try 🙂
Hi great recipe! Quick question, when making the dough the night before should I fully prepare it (cut it to size and everything) or should I leave it as a ball after its fully risen? Thanks!
Hi Victoria! You can fully prepare it, just don’t forget to let it rest at room temp before frying. Enjoy! 🙂
Hi, do you have the recipes for flavored ones such as chocolate filled and so forth?
Hi Tamie! I don’t have flavored beignets but you can stuff fillings, if you prefer. You can add fillings into the beignets after cooking them. Just use a piping bag with tip and fill it with your choice of stuffing. Then you can poke at the side of beignet with the tip of the piping bag and press the filling in. Enjoy! 🙂
Can you stuff them
Hi May! Yes you can add fillings into the beignets after cooking them. Just use a piping bag with tip and fill it with your choice of stuffing. Then you can poke at the side of beignet with the tip of the piping bag and press the filling in. Enjoy!
This recipe was amazing! I didn’t have evaporated milk but regular milk worked just fine. My sister and I love your recipes!
Wow! Thank you for sharing that, Haileigh! 🙂
This recipe is so easy to follow. The beignets were divine – soft, fluffy and just perfect. If anyone’s looking for a good beignet recipe , look no further
Thanks so much, Sampriti! 🙂
Perfection! This was my first attempt at beignets, or any fried dough. Although you walk us through your recipes step by step and your videos are amazing, my cooking skills aren’t as advanced as yours and I shy away from any recipes that require deep frying. However, I love beignets and they are hard to find in Las Vegas, so I decided to give it a try and I’m so glad I did. I followed your recipe exactly and they turned out just perfectly. I fried them the morning after I made the dough and my family couldn’t have been more excited. What a treat! Thank you so much.
Now that I have a wee bit of confidence, I may actually try your Krispy Kreme recipe.