Enjoy all the pillowy softness of traditional beignets—without the deep frying. These easy baked beignets are light, fluffy, and dusted with icing sugar, making them a perfect fuss-free treat for any occasion.
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Last week I got to do something I had wanted to do for a very very long time. Ever since I started Claire K Creations back in 2010, I have wanted to attend a ProBlogger conference and meet Darren Rowse, the man behind the book ProBlogger which started me off all those years ago.
I'm totally shy when it comes to meeting new people so I actually walked past when I saw him, then I thought 'no Claire you will regret this!' and I doubled back, introduced myself and thanked him and I'm glad I did.
This little blog sure has introduced me to a lot of people but not just at home, around the world through The Secret Recipe Club.
This month I was assigned to Daily Dish Recipes and got to meet Nicole Cook from St Louis in the USA. Now lets start with her name... Cook. Clearly she was meant to be involved with food.
To me she sounds like super mum with 5 kids, a big vege and herb garden and like me, a love of making simple food from scratch.
I think we'd get along just fine. Her recipes all fit my 'easy and delicious-looking' criteria and when I settled on sweets I had to make these baked beignets which apparently are the donut of Louisiana.
Nicole isn't sure why they're called the state donut as they're not much like a donut but I do see a resemblance in their fluffy texture.
Imagine a donut, met a bread roll and then a scone came in on the action. That is what these are like.
Soft and fluffy, pillowy, not-too-sweet, although they were nice and sweet when I added jam and the perfect afternoon treat.
The little guy was more than interested when I was taking pics. This was my first day home with him after he started crawling. I put him on his mat a few meters away and a minute or two later felt something grabbing at my shoes.
Doesn't that face say 'whatcha doing mum?' with a little bit of 'look how clever I am I got all the way over here.' Such a cutie.
I added a little sprinkle of cinnamon as I was mixing up the dough. In my humble opinion anything sweet and donut-like can only be made better with cinnamon.
I think these would freeze pretty well too.
Feel free to stray from the box (pun intended) and make them whatever shape you like. I had some triangles because I can't roll dough in a nice uniform shape to save myself. Enjoy!
What about you? Is there an ingredient you add to everything?
Recipe
Baked Beignets
Ingredients
- 7 g ¼-oz dry yeast
- 4 tablespoon warm water 100° to 110°C
- 1 tablespoon caster sugar
- ¾ cup milk or buttermilk
- ¼ cup caster sugar
- 4 tablespoon unsalted butter softened
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 large free-range egg lightly beaten
- 3 cups Baker's flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- A little oil or butter for greasing the bowl
- ¼-½ cup of icing powdered sugar for sifting over the warm beignets
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients except the icing sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer (or a big bowl).
- Knead on low speed until the dough comes together and is nice and smooth (about 6 minutes with the electric mixer or more if kneading by hand).
- Use your hands to shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a greased bowl and cover then set aside until it doubles in size (about an hour).
- Punch the air out of the dough and remove it from the bowl to a floured surface then roll it out to a rectangle about 2 cm (1") thick. Use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to cut the dough into rectangles about 10x5cm (4x2") and place on a lined baking tray leaving a little bit of space between each one.
- Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise again until they have almost doubled in size.
- Pre-heat the oven to 180C fan-forced (400F).
- Uncover the beignets and bake for 7-10 minutes or until just golden.
- Remove the beignets to a cooking rack and while still warm, dust with icing sugar.
Nutrition
Elizabeth@ Food Ramblings says
I would never think to bake beignets, but yours look amazing!
Claire says
Thanks Elizabeth!
sarah k @ the pajama chef says
i add cinnamon to everything sweet, and (lots of extra) pepper to everything savory. not too original but oh well. haha :)
Claire says
I even put cinnamon in my smoothies! Doesn't have to be original!
Renee's Kitchen Adventures says
These sound great. I love beignet but I do not like frying. Love the idea of baking them!
Claire says
I have a deep frying fear Renee. I've never attempted it at home!
Kirstin says
YUM! This looks so good
Claire says
Thanks Kirstin!
Trisha says
I had no idea these were baked and not fried. I've wanted to try them for ages, but just never got to it. They look fantastic. Your little one is absolutely adorable :)
Claire says
I think they are usually fried. I've actually never tried the original so if it's even better than the baked version I'm looking forward to it!
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella says
Hehe I've started adding chilli to everything!
Claire says
Chili eh? You're like Will only for him it's jalapeños!
Katrina says
Cute baby! Delicious baked beignets! Great post.
Claire says
Thanks Katrina!
Lesa @ Edesia's Notebook says
I have never had a beignet, but have always wanted to try one. Yours look simply delightful.
Claire says
I'd never even heard of them Lesa but this won't be the last time I make them!
Meghan says
I LOVE beignets! And being baked I'll probably eat twice as many! I'm so excited to make these! Thanks for sharing!
Claire says
Well you totally can eat twice as many because they're practically healthy!
sara says
Mmmm, beignets...one of my all time favorites! Yours look so lovely. :)
Claire says
I really don't know how I had never heard of them!
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef says
I've eaten many a beignet in New Orleans and they were rather donutty to me. Always fried and always delicious. :) Now I see yours and wonder what I've been missing!
Ollie is adorable! Won't be long before he's telling you what's what.
Claire says
Haha yep I'll have a director of photography very soon. Now I really want to try the fried version!
Amanda E says
Love the idea of a baked beignet - the ones I've had in the past have always been fried. There's a Creole restaurant in town that serves them up with different dipping sauces (chocolate, caramel, and cherry) and if they were baked maybe I wouldn't feel as guilty at the end of the meal...
Claire says
I'd never heard of them before now. Oh my goodness yes they would be delicious with chocolate sauce. Actually making an ice-cream sandwich out of them would be pretty amazing.
My Kitchen Stories says
So very quick that they grow up Claire. Mine is 20 next week and I feel like he just learned to crawl...... love these sweet buns they look delicious. how I would have loved a trip to Problogger. I was struggling so much when the tickets went o sale I just couldn't quite face it bugger.
Claire says
Oh don't tell me that! I hope things have gotten easier for you. When I get my head around it all I'll share what I think might be useful.
Claire says
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Hotly Spiced says
These are intriguing, Claire; I've never heard of them. I love how you added a pinch of cinnamon - they must have smelled wonderful as they were cooking. I would have liked to have gone to PB. I'd love to hear all about it when you get the chance and yes, little Ollie is very cute xx
Claire says
I hadn't either Charlie. You learn something new every day right? Oh yes of course. Once I collect all my thoughts I will do a post or two. x