4tablespoonsunsalted butter - meltedsub with any neutral tasting oil like light olive oil, canola or corn oil
2teaspoonssalt
2tablespoons icing or powdered sugar for sprinkling, add more sugar if desired
Instructions
Place milk in a large bowl then add the yeast. Let it rest for 2 minutes then add the sugar, egg, and butter and mix well.
Add the flour and salt and mix well to form a dough. The dough will be slightly sticky and that's okay! Place the dough on a floured board and knead for about 5 minutes until it is no longer sticky.
Return the dough to the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel then place in a warm place to rise for 2 hours. Alternately, place in the fridge to rise overnight.
Punch down dough to remove excess air. (If you kept the dough in the fridge then let it rest out of the fridge for about 30 minutes until it reaches room temperature before you follow this step.
Place dough on a floured board and roll out into a large (14 by 12 inch) rectangle. Cut the rectangle into 2-inch squares. Let the cut-out dough rest for about 10 minutes while you heat up the oil.
Place oil in a frying pan up to 3 or 4 inches. Let it heat up on medium heat for about 8 minutes. If using a thermometer to measure, heat up the oil until it reaches 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius). Let it fry for about 1-2 minutes on one side then flip to the other side and let it fry for another 1-2 minutes. Remove and place on paper towels to absorbs the excess oil. Sprinkle with confectioners/icing sugar.
Enjoy your beignets with tea or coffee.
Notes
1. These beignets fry very fast so be sure to keep an eye on them so they do not burn. They only need to cook for 1-2 minutes on each side.2. Note that these beignets aren't very sweet - which is one thing I love about them! Most of the sweetness comes from the sugar sprinkled on top. So you could choose to pile sugar on top if you want more sweetness.3. These beignets are best enjoyed warm. There's just nothing like freshly made Beignets. So soft and irresistible. But you could serve them cold too.4. Make-Ahead Tip: Make the dough the day before and place in the fridge then take it out the next day and bring to room temperature then you roll out and cut.