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Easy Halal Beignet Recipe: Make The New Orleans Doughnut From The Princess And The Frog

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Atiqah Mokhtar •  Jun 19, 2020

Have you had beignets before? This food has French roots, but interestingly, has become more popularly associated with the French Quarter located in New Orleans (especially at a restaurant called Cafe Du Monde that's super famous for them!). You may have also seen them in the Disney movie The Princess and The Frog - beignets are Tiana's speciality ?Beignets are essentially doughnuts but are much easier to make - no need to stamp out holes or pipe in any fillings! It's the perfect treat to whip up for your next teatime, and we've got an easy halal beignet recipe for you to follow. Beignets are typically deep-fried, but if you're keen on handling a hot pot of oil, we included an option for baking your beignets too!

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup lukewarm water (about 40 degrees Celsius)
  • 2 ¼ tsp active dry yeast (or 1 packet)
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • ½ cup milk
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ tsp salt
  • Vegetable oil for frying (for baking, see notes below).
  • Icing sugar

Directions

  1. In a bowl or medium jar add the water, active dry yeast and sugar. Whisk to combine and let it sit for about 5 - 10 minutes until it turns foamy.
  2. To the yeast mixture, add the egg, milk, and melted butter then whisk to combine
  3. In a large bowl (or the bowl of you stand-mixer,  with the dough hook attachment), add the flour and salt and briefly whisk to combine. Add the wet mixture into the bowl then mix until well combined and the dough starts to come together. If you're using a stand mixer, let the machine knead the dough on low speed until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl - it should take just a few minutes. If you're doing this by hand, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and gently knead the dough by hand for a few minutes until smooth.
  4. Place the dough back in the bowl, cover with a kitchen towel and leave it to rise in a warm place until double in size (should take about 1 - 2 hours).
  5. Once it's doubled in size, turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Scatter more flour over the top of the dough, then using a rolling pin, roll it out it in a rough rectangle shape about 2cm thick. Cut out squares (about 1.5 - 2 inches in size).
  6. Preheat the oil in a pot (about 2 - 3 inches deep) to 180 degrees Celsius. In batches (don't overcrowd them), fry the squares of dough until they puff up and are golden brown on both sides. Drain the cooked beignets on a plate lined with a paper towel (for baking, see notes below).
  7. Dust liberally with sifted icing sugar, and serve hot.

Notes:

  1. Not in the mood to deep-fry? You can also make baked beignets! After you cut the beignets into squares, place them on a lined baking sheet. Let them rest for another 45 minutes, then brush each beignet with some milk before baking them in an oven preheated to 180 degrees Celsius.
  2. If you have a pizza cutter, use that to cut out your beignet squares!

Beignets are the perfect treat to enjoy with coffee, and now that you know how easy they are to make there's no excuse not to fry up a batch!