Bring a little New Orleans into your kitchen with these delicious Salted Caramel Beignets! You’re going to love these salted caramel-flavored sweet dough beignets, deep-fried and served hot with a sweet chocolate dipping sauce!
News flash: Mardi Gras is overrrr.
But you know what? Salted Caramel Beignets should be enjoyed all year long.
Honest. For real. I seriously mean it.
Folks, these things are heavenly. Like, irresistible to the point of burning your fingers and tongue because you can’t wait to inhale them straight from the deep fryer.
Or maybe that’s just me?
JUST TAKE ME TO THE SALTED CARAMEL BEIGNETS ALREADY!
If you’d rather skip my (pretty darn helpful) tips and tricks, essential cooking info, and similar recipe ideas – and get straight to this deliciously easy beignet recipe, just scroll right on down to the bottom of the page where you can find the printable recipe card!
Until I made these, I had never tried a beignet.
Donuts of all kinds have made it past my lips and straight to my hips, but none have been quite like these simple fried choux pastry-based squares of fluffy goodness.
It’s really a shame (or perhaps a good thing) that I’ve never been to New Orleans, because I’m pretty sure, based on the food alone, that I’d never want to leave.
What is a beignet?
Synonymous with Cafe du Monde in New Orleans, Louisiana, a beignet is a sweet breakfast pastry made from squares of deep-fried dough. Pretty much like a fluffy doughnut.
They’re intended to be eaten fresh and hot and are typically prepared to order, garnished simply with a liberal dusting of powdered sugar. Sometimes, they are served with a chocolate or raspberry dipping sauce.
How do you make a beignet?
- In a large bowl, dissolve active dry yeast and sugar in warm water for 10 minutes. Add egg, salt, and creamer in another bowl and blend well, then add to water.
- Mix in 2 cups of the flour and beat until combined. Add the butter, and then the remaining flour slowly until incorporated
- Place dough on a floured surface and knead until smooth (or use a dough hook on a stand mixer for 5 minutes.) The dough will be slightly sticky.
- Spray a bowl with cooking spray and place dough inside, covering with plastic wrap and allowing to rise for about 2 hours in a warm place.
- When the dough is ready, place on a lightly floured surface and roll the dough out to ⅛ inch thick. Using a knife or pastry cutter, cut the dough into 2-1/2 inch squares.
- Heat oil to 350 degrees F and deep fry dough 4-6 squares at a time, flipping every 30 seconds or so, for 2-3 minutes until golden brown on both sides. If beignets do not pop up or take longer than 3 minutes, turn up the heat – your oil is not hot enough. Remove beignets with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
- Sprinkle with confectioners sugar while hot and enjoy your fried beignets with …
Chocolate Dipping Sauce
- Combine creamer and chopped chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 30-second bursts until chocolate is melty. Gently whisk together until smooth. Set aside to cool, then dip away!
I’ll admit – I get intimidated when I try making new things.
Uncharted territory. Room for mistakes. And I hate to waste ingredients on failures.
Luckily, this beignet recipe was much easier than I thought it would be…even though I was missing a supposed key ingredient.
I swore I had evaporated milk in my pantry when I set out to make these last week, but nope. Nothin’. And I was not about to go to the store on my day off for just one can.
Thank goodness for Google, which told me that, in a pinch, cream can be substituted for the missing milk!
But guess who didn’t have cream either…
I did have a couple of coffee creamers that I had recently snagged. I have this fetish for overstocking my fridge with four or five different flavored creamers at one time.
Sue me, I like options.
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HELPFUL KITCHEN TOOLS FOR MAKING BEIGNETS:
Salted Caramel Beignets
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup lukewarm water
- 1 egg
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup salted caramel coffee creamer
- 3 1/2-4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 Tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- Canola oil for frying
- ½ cup powdered sugar
Chocolate Dipping Sauce
- ¾ cup chocolate coffee creamer
- 5 ounces dark chocolate chopped
Instructions
- In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water for 10 minutes. Add egg, salt, and creamer in another bowl and blend well, then add to water.
- Mix in 2 cups of the flour and beat until combined. Add the butter, and then the remaining 2 cups of flour slowly until incorporated
- Place dough on a floured surface and knead until smooth (or use a dough hook on a stand mixer for 5 minutes.) Dough will be slightly sticky.
- Spray a bowl with cooking spray and place dough inside, covering with plastic wrap and allowing to rise for about 2 hours in a warm place.
- When dough is ready, place on a lightly floured surface and roll out to ⅛ inch thick. Using a knife or pastry cutter, cut dough into 2-1/2 inch squares.
- Heat oil to 350 degrees F and fry dough 4-6 squares at a time, flipping every 30 seconds or so, for 2-3 minutes until golden brown on both sides. If beignets do not pop up or take longer than 3 minutes, turn up the heat - your oil is not hot enough. Remove beignets with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
- Sprinkle with powdered sugar while hot and enjoy with chocolate dipping sauce.
Chocolate Dipping Sauce
- Combine creamer and chopped chocolate in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 30-second bursts until chocolate is melty. Gently whisk together until smooth. Set aside to cool, then dip away!
Nutrition
Cathy says
Oh my goodness! These look beyond delicious!!! I love how you swirled some amazing creamer into these delicious beignets! #client
Cathy
Heather says
This looks amazing! I just picked up this creamer at Walmart today. I will have to try this fabulous recipe to pair with my coffee. YUM! -client