Beignets/French Doughnuts

Boy and Girl started back to school today, after the Christmas holiday, so I wanted them to have a really nice breakfast. French doughnuts (beignets) are one of their favorites, although they are kind of a pain in the neck to make on a busy morning and they do make the house smell like grease for the rest of the day. We served these with some scrambled eggs and a fruit-yogurt smoothie. I must admit that I do routinely use a mix to make these, but I adapt the recipe a tad and add a little cinnamon, a little more water and cut them smaller than the mix makers recommend. I always use Cafe du Monde’s mix and generally don’t have a problem finding it here in Texas (although I did have some momentary, selfish and ultimately, unfounded, panic about this after Hurricane Katrina), but if it is hard to find in your area, you can order off Cafe du Monde’s website or try a Cost Plus World Market store.

This is the Beignet mix that I use.

Beignets, rolled and cut, ready to be fried. I cut the rolled dough into strips about 2 inches wide, then cut across the strips to make squares/rectangles. This is a half-batch (1 cup mix to about 5 oz. of water and 1/4 tsp cinnamon). If I’m making them for company, I make more of an effort to cut them into more attractive, uniform, diamond-shaped pieces, but I was in a hurry today.

After frying, draining on paper towel. These are maybe just a TAD overdone, but still OK. I wasn’t patient enough this morning to mess with the thermometer to check the oil temperature. It’s also really important to use the right size pan and enough oil to allow the doughnuts to “float” as they cook – you don’t want to dough to be able to touch the bottom of the pan.

After being dusted with the absolutely crucial powdered sugar. The kids (OK, me, too…..) like to have an additional small mound of powdered sugar on their plates for “dipping/coating” after each bite.

I have enjoyed eating these since I was a little kid. I grew up in East Texas, just across the border from Louisiana, in an area strongly influenced by “Cajun” culture (gumbo recipe coming soon), and spent a lot of time at my grandparent’s house. My grandmother used to make these all the time. My grandfather and I would always pretend to “fight” for the last one, but, in the end, he would always let me have it. XOXO Pappaw!