How To Make Beignets | Cafe-Style Treats

Nothing beats a pile of warm, sugar-dusted pillows fresh from the fryer. This guide walks you through making beignets at home with confidence: clear steps, exact temperatures, and practical tricks that save time and avert messes. You’ll learn the rhythm of the dough, the right oil heat, and how to get that signature hollow puff every single batch.

Make Beignets At Home: Step-By-Step

Classic beignets begin with an enriched dough. That means milk, a touch of sugar, and butter join flour, yeast, and salt. The result is tender, aromatic, and sturdy enough to puff dramatically in hot oil. If you’ve worked with yeasted doughs for rolls or doughnuts, this will feel familiar. If not, don’t worry—each step below explains the why and the how so you can spot perfect cues with your eyes and hands.

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Whole milk, warmed
• Active dry yeast (or instant yeast)
• Granulated sugar
• Large eggs
• Unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• All-purpose flour
• Fine salt
• Neutral frying oil (peanut, canola, or rice bran)
• Powdered sugar, for dusting

Beignet Dough At A Glance

For dough performance basics, see the King Arthur Baking guide to yeast.

Mix, Knead, And First Rise

Warm the milk. If using active dry yeast, stir it into the milk with a teaspoon of sugar and rest 5–10 minutes until foamy. Instant yeast can go straight in with the dry ingredients. Whisk in eggs, melted butter, and the remaining sugar. Add most of the flour and the salt, then mix until a shaggy mass forms.

Knead by hand for 6–8 minutes (or 4–5 minutes in a mixer) until the dough is smooth, elastic, and slightly tacky but not sticky. Lightly oil a bowl, set the dough inside, cover, and let rise until doubled. At 75–78°F room temperature, this takes about 60–90 minutes. Warmer rooms move quicker; cooler rooms take longer.

Roll, Cut, And Second Rest

Turn the dough onto a floured surface and roll to a 1/4-inch slab. Trim the edges, then cut into 2 to 2 1/2-inch squares or diamonds. Gather scraps and rest them 10 minutes before re-rolling.

Transfer the pieces to a parchment-lined sheet, dust lightly with flour, cover loosely, and rest 20–30 minutes. This bench rest relaxes gluten and primes each piece to puff in the fryer.

Fry For A Tall Puff

Heat 2–3 inches of oil in a wide, heavy pot to 360°F. A clip-on thermometer makes this easy. Slide in a few pieces, leaving space to swim. They should sink, then float and balloon within 30 seconds. Fry 1–2 minutes per side to a deep blond color. Adjust the flame to keep 350–365°F between batches.

Drain on a rack over a sheet pan. While still warm, shower with a thick snowfall of powdered sugar. Serve at once. The contrast—crisp outside, tender inside—fades as they cool, so plan to fry close to serving time.

For safe frying practices, the USDA’s page on deep-fat frying and food safety is a good reference.

Timing, Dough Feel, And Temperature Cues

Yeasted dough rewards patience and gentle heat. Aim for a dough that feels soft like a plush pillow when pressed. If it clings stubbornly to your hands, dust with a spoon or two of flour. If it tears instead of stretching, rest 10 minutes and try again. The windowpane test—a thin, translucent stretch—tells you gluten is ready.

Temperature drives everything. Cold ingredients stall fermentation. Milk that’s too hot weakens yeast. Oil below 340°F leads to greasy results; oil above 375°F browns before the centers set. Keep a steady flame and work in small batches so the pot rebounds to target heat quickly.

Humidity affects flour absorption. On dry days you might add a couple tablespoons more milk; on humid days, a shake or two more flour. Trust the look and feel cues more than exact cup counts.

Common Fixes When Things Go Sideways

Flat Beignets With No Puff

Usually this points to cold dough or lazy yeast. Check that the first rise doubled. If it stalled, extend the rise in a warmer spot. Weak oil heat is another culprit; pieces need a quick hit at 350–365°F to inflate. Finally, dough rolled too thin can’t trap steam. Stick to that 1/4-inch target.

Greasy Or Too Dark

Greasy pastries come from oil that’s too cool or tired. Bring the pot back to temp between batches, and skim flour bits that scorch and leak flavor. If color races ahead of doneness, lower the heat a touch and shorten each side’s time by 15–20 seconds.

Chewy Or Dense Centers

Two likely causes: under-proofed dough or heavy handling during transfer. Give the shaped pieces that relaxed bench rest so bubbles survive the trip to the oil. Use a bench scraper to lift from the sides, not from underneath, to avoid compressing the dough.

Quick Troubleshooting Table

Variations, Swaps, And Serving Ideas

Cinnamon sugar. Toss hot pastries in a mix of fine sugar and ground cinnamon instead of powdered sugar. The crunchy shell stays crisp longer.

Chocolate sauce. Melt chopped dark chocolate with a splash of cream. Dip while warm. A spoon of espresso deepens the cocoa flavor.

Lemon glaze. Whisk powdered sugar with lemon juice and zest to a thick drizzle. Drag the pastries through once and let the glaze set.

Baked test batch. Not the same, but helpful for timing. Bake two pieces on a hot stone at 450°F for 6–8 minutes. You’ll learn how thickness and rest change lift before you commit to oil.

Flour choices. All-purpose is classic. A 10–20% swap for bread flour boosts chew; a 10% swap for cake flour softens the bite. Keep hydration steady and assess feel as you mix.

Next-day plan. The dough holds overnight in the fridge after the first rise. Grease the bowl, press out air, cover, and chill. Next day, let it warm 45–60 minutes before rolling.

Full Method With Measurements

Yield And Time

Makes about 24 pieces; active time 45 minutes; total time 2 1/2 to 3 hours with rises.

Ingredient Quantities

• 1 cup (240 ml) whole milk
• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (or instant)
• 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 4 tablespoons (57 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 3 1/2 to 3 3/4 cups (420–450 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 2–3 quarts neutral oil for frying
• Plenty of powdered sugar

Step-By-Step Method

1. Warm the milk to 105–115°F. Stir in yeast and a pinch of the sugar. Rest until foamy.
2. Whisk in the remaining sugar, eggs, and butter. Add 3 1/2 cups flour and the salt. Mix until a soft dough forms; add the last 1/4 cup flour only if sticky.
3. Knead until smooth and slightly tacky. Place in an oiled bowl, cover, and rise until doubled.
4. Roll to a 1/4-inch sheet. Trim edges and cut into squares or diamonds.
5. Rest the cut pieces 20–30 minutes while you heat oil to 360°F.
6. Fry in batches 1–2 minutes per side, keeping the oil between 350–365°F. Drain on a rack.
7. Dust thickly with powdered sugar and serve hot.

Storage, Reheating, And Make-Ahead

Fresh is best, but there are workable make-ahead paths. Cooled pastries can be kept uncovered on a rack for 30 minutes without losing too much snap. Beyond that, move to a paper-towel-lined container with the lid slightly ajar for up to 4 hours. Reheat at 350°F for 5–6 minutes, then dust again.

For dough ahead, refrigerate after the first rise for up to 24 hours. You can also freeze the cut, uncooked pieces on a tray until solid, then bag for a month. Fry straight from frozen at 350–355°F and extend time by about 30–45 seconds per side.

Serve Like A Pro

Heat the plates. Sift sugar through a fine mesh so it falls light and even. Stack pastries three high, add a lemon wedge to cut richness, and send them out fast. If you’re feeding a crowd, set up two pots: one for frying, one kept warm on low to rebound temperature between batches.

Once you lock in the cues—soft dough, lively rise, steady oil, and a heavy snow of sugar—you’ll turn out cafe-style beignets on demand with zero guesswork.