If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed,to keep updated on life in the middle of the road or follow me via Networked Blogs by clicking the button in my sidebar! Thanks for visiting!

Lovely little pillows of joy are beignets!

Having my first Beignets!

My youngest daughter lucked out this summer. My sister and her husband had planned to take their daughter for her sweet 16 on vacation anywhere in the US she wanted to go. She picked New Orleans and then her brothers could not make the trip due to work and college. What girl wants to go on a sweet 16 vacation alone with her parents? So, my little one was asked to go!

I was so excited for her because New Orleans has always been a place that I have wanted to go for a lot of reasons. I adore the history, the culture, the music, the tradition and the food. I have been to New Orleans only once if you count proximity, as I changed planes there going to Mexico. As I looked down longingly over Lake Pontchartrain as we took off again, I vowed to make a plan to go there myself. That plan has not yet panned out, but after listening to my daughter’s tales of her trip, I will certainly step up my efforts and place it much higher on my travel to do list.

A few of the things I told her she had to try when she prepared to travel were crayfish and beignets. Since she liked shrimp and lobster, I was sure the craw dads would be up her ally. Beignets were more of a mystery to me because I had actually never had them, only heard stories of them from a number of people. My parents had been to New Orleans many times as had a number of friends and when they spoke of mornings filled with dark rich coffee and heavenly beignets, their eyes got a little cloudy and distant and it was difficult for them to come back to reality! I wanted my daughter to try something that does that to you!

For the record, beignets are a New Orleans specialty, which are kind of like little pillows of doughnut. As my daughter told me, some places make them bigger and some places smaller, but they are all doused in powdered sugar or honey and sugar and they are all delicious!

When she came home from New Orleans she brought me a package of Cafe Du Monde Beignet mix. She told me they were indeed heaven and that we should make some ourselves. Having never fried a doughnut in my life, and not one to make things out of a box, I thought I would look for a recipe and try to create it myself, but my daughter persisted, and finally the other day, I simply whipped out that box, my cast iron dutch oven and my coconut oil and made up a batch.

Beignets

Makes 2 Dozen

2 Cups Cafe Du Monde beignet mix

1 Cup water

Flour for dusting

In a bowl, mix 2 cups well fluffed beignet mix with 1 cup cold water until a well formed ball pulls away from the bowl. Dump out onto a well floured surface and knead a few times. Roll out to a thickness of 1/8 inch and then cut into rectangles making 24 pieces.

In a heavy saucepan heat 1/4 cup or more coconut oil to 370 degrees F (you could use any high heat oil, but I thought the coconut oil would taste good and be healthier). You want enough oil to just cover the beignets.  Place a few beignets at a time into the oil. Do not crowd. The oil is hot enough when the beignets pop to the to surface in 8-10 seconds. The dough will puff up quickly and so you have to work fast. Flip them over for a few seconds and then remove them to drain on a rack or paper towels once they are golden brown. Work in batches until they are done and then sprinkle liberally with 10x confectioners sugar. You can also drizzle them with honey or as we did maple syrup and then top with just a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

We made one batch and this went in a matter of minutes. These are so good I find it hard to describe them. If you have had super light Italian Zeppoles or New England fried dough they are more like that than actual doughnuts. Biting through the sweetness of the powdered sugar to the crisp outer crust and into the pillow of doughy goodness is definitely a culinary experience! While I continue to look forward to having beignets at a coffee house in New Orleans, I am glad I tried these and will be looking for a home made recipe to try! Thanks so much to my lovely daughter for bringing beignets home and into our lives! What a lovely thing to make for a lazy Saturday morning.

This post is a part of the Hearth and Soul Hop 55.

A Moderate Life also recommends these posts!

Happy Memorial Day Everyone! We are enjoying a relaxing weekend here at Casa Clark and preparing to go visit some friends for a...

Not your average green smoothie: Fermented Smoothie creation! Sparkling Green Smoothie! I am not much of a morning eater and so for many years, basically since...

The Joy of a Meal Shared With Family. This weekend, for the first time in many years, both my brothers, who live in distant states, were...

It’s summer time and the hearth and soul is hoppin at a Moderate Life (54)!     It's summer time at the Hearth and Soul Hop! Ahhh! Sweet relief! After much planning...