Beignets, Oh you cloudy doughnut of heaven or at least that’s what I think of. I actually didn’t have a beignet until I made them in New York.
I did live in North Louisana, in a small town called Delhi, in 2011 but we never got to visit New Orleans. I went back in the fall of 2012, but again didn’t make it to New Orleans. One day I will make it there, and to all the other places on my bucket list.
believe it or not Beignets originated in France but didn’t get their popularity until Cafe Du Mond became famous. Beignet is really a deep fried Choux pastry, but the dough is rollable and not piped.
Pâté a Choux is a light pastry that only contains butter, water, flour and eggs. As you can see from the recipe below we do use yeast as a rising agent and we do Poof it. You can find our pâté a Choux recipe if you click the link.
Proof by definition is preparing the yeast dough to rest and rise before baking. It is important because it allows the dough to release carbon dioxide, which allows the gluten to stretch to creat e the air bubbles needed.
Beignets are typically fried as mentioned above but we don’t have a deep frier. Instead I converted it to our air fryer. I also have a baked beignet version.
It goes great with Gumbo for a Princess and the Frog movie night.
Air Fryer Beignets
Equipment
- Air Fryer
- Bowl
- Rolling pin
- Knife
- Plate
- Sifter or colander
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup lukewarm water between 90-100 degrees
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 packet active yeast
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter room temp in small pieces
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup evaporated milk
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 1 cup confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
- 3 1/2 cup flour
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Begin with activating your yeast packet with the water, a pinch of sugar and the yeast in a bowl. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes until it starts foaming or you see bubbles
- Add the flour, salt, the 2 tablespoons of butter, and sugar in to the yeast bowl really well. If you have a mixer, now is the time to use it.
- Add the egg and evaporated milk and mix until it’s a dough form
- In an oiled bowl (just a dab of olive oil spread in a bowl) place your dough and cover in a warm place for 2 hours, you want the dough to double in size
- on a floured counter, roll your dough to 1/2 inch thick and cut into rectangles
- Preheat your air fryer to 360 for 5 minutes
- Brush both sides of the rectangles and cook for 6-7 minutes
- Take out of the air fryer and place on a plate. Sift the Confectioners sugar over it with a nice dusting