Beignets

1. Take a mixing bowl.
2. Add half a cup of water and yeast into the bowl and mix it up until you see bubbles forming in the water.
3. Add salt, lemon zest, nutmeg and egg into the bowl.
4. Whisk all the ingredients well.
5. Take a larger mixing bowl.
6. Add milk and the whisked ingredients into it.
7. Pour all-purpose flour into the bowl.
8. Mix half the flour well with the rest of the ingredients until a smooth batter is prepared.
9. Add butter into the batter and whisk once more.
10. Add the remaining flour into the batter and knead it with your hands until it turns into fine dough.
11. Take a separate bowl and grease it with vegetable oil.
12. Put the dough inside the bowl, cover it up and set it aside for at least an hour to rise.
13. After an hour, the dough should be double in size.
14. Take the dough and roll it until it is an inch thick.
15. Use some dry flour while rolling the dough to make sure it doesn’t stick to the rolling platform.
16. Cut the dough into square shaped pieces.
17. Place the Beignets on a baking sheet, cover it and set it aside to let them rise for another half an hour.
18. Heat up a deep frying pan with 3 to 4 cups of vegetable oil on high heat for deep frying the Beignets.
19. Fry the Beignets for 2 to 3 minutes until they turn golden brown.
20. Remove them from the pan and place them on a paper towel so it can soak all the excess oil.
21. Put them in a serving dish and sprinkle powdered sugar on top to serve!

Trivia

• The King of Beignets is Café Due Monde in the New Orleans’ French Quarter. They have been serving Beignets there since 1862.
• Beignets are the official State doughnuts of Louisiana.

Beignets are generally enjoyed with dark roasted coffee.