Fluffy Beignets

Today I wanted to share a fun fried dessert recipe. If you happen to go to Disneyland, you will know that they have some popular beignets. In the park, there is the Mickey shaped beignets that is really light and fluffy. It’s easy to eat a whole bunch of them without getting full. I tried my best to recreate that kind of flavor, the beignet recipe I am sharing is easy and you can fry them up in different shapes if you have cookie cutters.

One of the things I love about the colder seasons is that baking is a lot easier. Fall and winter make it so nice to turn on the oven and bake whatever I want to bake. I had previously made a whole bunch of recipes, but my photos are just so terrible that I am going to recreate the recipes and redo the photos. Honestly, it’s hard to do everything during summer because it’s so hot, so I am excited to start redoing all my recipes now.    

First thing we need to do is mix in the warm milk with melted butter and sugar. Swirl it around or mix it with a fork. This step can be done in a cup or a bowl. Honestly, it is your preference. After this is all mixed up, add in the yeast and mix again. I found it easier to put everything in my measuring cup and let it set there. After you mix it, you might just see all the butter on top…that’s fine because the yeast will bubble up after it has been activated. If you decide to use instant yeast then you can skip this step.

Let it sit for 5 minutes or so until it is all bubbly. The point of this step is so that your yeast will activate prior to adding into your dough. I am not sure of the exact science, but I think it helps in getting smooth and soft dough. After five minutes you should see a bubble or bubbles of sorts. That means the yeast is alive and awake.

In a bowl of a stand mixer or just a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together.

Now we just need to add in the yeast mixture to the flour mixture and set the stand mixer to mix on low for about 6-8 minutes. Alternatively, you can use your hands. Just mix with a fork initially, and then once all the moist ingredients have absorbed use your hands to knead. Kneading by hand will take about 10-12 minutes, but either way you should end with dough that is elastic and sticky.

Roll it up into a ball and place it in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put in a warm spot to rise.

I usually put it in my microwave or on the counter by the oven, those places are usually warm enough. After about an hour or maybe 45 minutes, it should double in size. It could take a little bit longer if it is a colder day. Sometimes on a warm day it can happen in just 30 minutes, so make sure to keep an eye on the dough.

Now it is ready to roll! I usually roll it out to a rectangle type shape. Sometimes it can be hard to get a perfect rectangle, but you can cut off the edges to get the shape you want.

After it is rolled out, you can immediately cut out the shapes you want. Like I said earlier, if you have a cookie cutter you can cut those shapes out to fry that way.  I don’t have a really good cookie cutter, so I just stuck to basic squares. It was faster to eat that way too.

I rolled out my dough to about ¼ inch thick. You don’t want to make them too thick because they will need to bake while they fry. Frying doesn’t take that long so it won’t be “baking” for long either. If the dough is too thick it won’t cook all the way through.

There is an optional step of letting the dough rise again for another 30 minutes after it is cut up. You don’t have to but it does give you a fluffier result. Also if you want some air pockets in your beignets letting them rest a bit will help ensure those air bubbles.

Fill a pot halfway up with oil and heat it up on medium heat. If you are impatient you can put it on high, but you need to be careful so that the oil doesn’t get too hot.
It should be about 370 degrees Fahrenheit or so. I have a temperature gun that I use to double check the temp.

You can always dip a piece of beignet and it should bubble around the dough, if it doesn’t it is not hot enough. Once the oil is hot enough, put your beignets inside the pot. Try not to put too many, then the temperature drops to fast and the air pockets in the dough won’t form.

Constantly flip your frying beignets that way they brown evenly and bubble evenly too. Once they are golden brown they are done! You will notice that as the oil heats up, the dough will fry faster and so I like to try and control the heat, so if it starts to get too hot turn the fire down a little. You don’t want to cook them too fast because you might just end up with a big air pocket!

Put them on a plate and dust with powdered sugar or whatever you like. Some people like to drizzle honey on top of the beignets, but I like a simple powdered sugar dusting. I have also seen people get fancy with it and stuff apple pie filling inside of the beignets. Once you have the beignets fried up you can mess with them however you like.

I’m working on a multitude of projects, so hopefully I can start posting all my old recipes re-pictured soon enough and get everything running. It’s pumpkin season and I want to start sharing the pumpkin recipes!

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did. See you next time.