I've only ever heard of beignets from the Disney movie The Princess and the Frog. My girls enjoy that movie, and our dear heroine, Tiana, makes beignets in her New Orleans Cafe. Recently, I was curious about what they were exactly, and then when I found out that they were essentially baby donuts smothered in icing sugar, I was sold. We HAD to make these, and we had to make them for Valentine's Day! Valentine's Day is huge in our house - it's Little C's favourite holiday of the year - so finding the perfect treat for the day is a must. Let me show you how to make heart shaped beignets that I hope would make Tiana proud.
I used our LG electric range from The Brick to fry our beignets. I've written a few times about how much I love the double ovens of this range for our family, but I wanted to share with you how the cooktop works.
The cooktop has four elements, and I'm often using them all! I particularly like the front left element as it has a quick boil feature that I use a lot for pastas. The front right element is fabulous too because it has three different size selections - this is the element I use to set oil to fry for beignets.
It's really nice to be able to choose the right sized element for the pot I have! You can read more about our LG range right here.
One of the secrets I want to share with you about these beignets is that you can make this dough and then freeze half of it for later. All you need to do is put half in a plastic bag, pop it in your freezer, and then take it out on the morning you want to make another batch of fresh beignets. Let the dough thaw at room temperature, and it should rise again like normal. This is a great time-saving technique that I use often with yeast doughs!
Our LG electric range from The Brick also has a "proofing" feature in the top oven, so this is a great tool to have when I make yeast doughs. The oven can be set at the perfect tempearature to help rise our dough so that it's light and fluffy for more delicate things like beignets.
This recipe is also a fabulous activity to do with your kids. Of course it's wise to do the frying yourself, but have your kids help you roll the dough and cut it into heart shapes. They'll also probably love covering the beignets with icing sugar and testing them like my girls do!
These are best eaten immediately after they're fried and covered in powdered sugar, but a quick warming in the microwave makes them tasty later, too.
Ready to make some heart shaped beignets for a special Valentine's Day treat? Here's the recipe!
(Based on this recipe.)
- 1 ½ cups warm water
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoon yeast
- 2 beaten eggs
- 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 7 ½ cups flour
- ¼ cup shortening
- Canola oil for deep frying
- 1 cup icing sugar
- Mix water, sugar, and yeast together in a bowl and let sit for at least 5 minutes until the mixture is foamy.
- Add the eggs, salt and milk to the yeast mixture and mix. Add in the flour a cup at a time until the mixture becomes dough-like. Knead the dough for a few minutes. If desired, reserve half of the dough for later by freezing it in a plastic bag. Let the remainder of the dough proof in the proofing feature of your oven for an hour or until doubled.
- Preheat oil in a pot with high sides on your stove until it reaches 350 degrees F.
- Roll out the dough to ¼" thickness, and cut it with heart-shaped cookie cutters.
- Fry the beignets in the oil for a few minutes on each side, or until they are golden brown.
- Lay the beignets on a paper towel after they're fried, and then shake them in a bag with the icing sugar to coat them. Serve immediately.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by The Brick. As always, all of the opinions here are my own. This post also contains affiliate links.
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Jo-Anna Rooney
What a fun thing to do with your girls! And delicious too!
Lindsay - The DIY Mommy
Thank you, Jo-Anna
Hillary
Hi, you don’t mention the shortening in the directions but I see that in the ingredient list? Would love to make these but just wanted to clarify that.
Joanne
We love beignets! We often stay at Port Orleans in WDW Florida and they are a dessert treat that we just can't get enough of. Love your adorable helper and that you made these heart shaped for Valentine's day. Pinned.
Priya
I've never heard of beignets! Yummy!