Making New Orleans-Style Beignets

Beignets offer a great deal of payoff relative to time spent planning and preparing them. As long as you have a fry rig ready to go, they can take as little as two hours from mixing to frying. Start by combining your dry ingredients in a mixer bowl and giving them a whisk (you can also stir with the paddle attachment).

Combine your wet ingredients and pour them in.

Mix with the beater until everything is wet.

Then switch to the hook and knead until a dough forms. It will be quite wet and sticky, but for fried things the rule of thumb is the wetter the dough the better (that’s why most fried things are coated in batter, because more flour generally means a tougher end product).

Put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl…

…and let rise until almost doubled, about 45 minutes.

Transfer the dough to a well-floured surface…

…and pat into a rectangle.

Roll it out to about 3/8″…

…then cut the dough one way…

…and the other.

Place them on a kitchen towel or proofing cloth.

Let them rise another 45 minutes to an hour until puffy, and fry 45 seconds a side until golden.

Drain them on paper towels, transfer to plates while still hot and dust them liberally with powdered sugar.