French Quarter Beignets

French Quarter Beignets
Printable Recipe

I love donuts. Any kind; any flavor; any size. As long as they're fresh, I will eat them until I get sick. My mom and I were talking about making sopapilla's and I asked her if they were similar to beignets so she brought all of her stuff to my house one night and we made some awesome pastries!

If you have the time to make these and have a good system going, you've got to try them. They are light and fluffy and crunchy and sugary and just darn delicious! And because I love Paul Deen and her sweets so much, this recipe comes from Food Network so check it out here. My mom made the batter ahead of time. The only thing she did different was half the recipe and it fed 8 of us plus she took some home for her and her husband. We ate and ate and ate. I could've eaten the whole batch and I'm not lying.

Anyway, here's the delicious recipe! New Orleans doesn't have anything on this recipe. I'll stand behind that 100%.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 envelope active dry yeast

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 cup evaporated milk

7 cups bread flour

1/4 cup shortening

Nonstick spray

Oil, for deep-frying

3 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions:

Mix water, sugar, and yeast in a large bowl and let sit for 10 minutes.

In another bowl, beat the eggs, salt and evaporated milk together. Mix egg mixture to the yeast mixture. In a separate bowl, measure out the bread flour. Add 3 cups of the flour to the yeast mixture and stir to combine. Add the shortening and continue to stir while adding the remaining flour. Remove dough from the bowl, place onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Spray a large bowl with nonstick spray. Put dough into the bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a towel. Let rise in a warm place for at least 2 hours.

Preheat oil in a deep-fryer to 350degrees.
Add the confectioners' sugar to a paper bag and set aside.
Roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness and cut into 1-inch squares. Deep-fry, flipping constantly, until they become a golden color. After beignets are fried, drain them for a few seconds on paper towels, and then toss them into the bag of confectioners' sugar. Hold bag closed and shake to coat evenly.

As Paula would say, "These are 'slap-your-mamma-good!'"

Eat and enjoy with some friends.