In celebration of Mardi Gras and dressed in green, gold, and purple sanding sugar these pillowy soft and perfectly fried beignets are ready to party!
Have you ever been to New Orleans? I have not, but it’s on my bucket list of places I want to visit. I hear the food is amazing, the people are fun, and the culture needs to be experienced at least once.
But, until I actually get to New Orleans, making homemade beignets for Mardi Gras is a great way to take part in the celebration and get the party started, even from home!
**Please Note – The printable recipe card with detailed instructions, complete ingredient measurements, and nutritional information for making Homemade Beignets for Mardi Gras is available near the end of this post.
The ingredient list for making homemade beignets;
- Active Dry Yeast
- Honey
- Warm Water
- Granulated Sugar
- Salt
- Eggs
- Milk
- Butter
- All-Purpose Flour
- Oil (I used peanut)
- Sanding Sugar
- Confectioners Sugar
- Almond Extract
Once I finished making these begniets I packed them all up and sent them with my husband to his office so he could share them with his coworkers.
From what I understand, they were gone in a matter of moments!
My husband told me he ate THREE of them!
What do the colors of Mardi Gras signify?
- Purple signifies justice.
- Green signifies faith.
- Gold signifies power.
What is the best oil for frying beignets?
The best oil for frying is typically light in color and one that has a high smoke point.
My favorite oil for frying is peanut oil, but you can also use sunflower oil, safflower oil, canola oil, vegetable oil, or even avocado oil.
If you’re intimidated by working with yeast dough or frying foods I’m here to walk you through it with the step-by-step photos and video. I want you to feel totally comfortable with this recipe and turn out some beautiful homemade beignets. Let’s do this!
Step-by-step directions;
- Dissolve the yeast in warm water with a pinch of honey.
- In a separate bowl, warm milk and butter together.
- When the yeast gets foamy (approximately 5 minutes), add it to a large bowl along with the milk and butter mixture.
- Stir in two eggs, and sugar.
- Use a dough hook of a stand mixer, or a spatula or spoon to stir in 4 cups of flour until smooth and blended.
- Once smooth, knead in the remaining flour to form a smooth, soft dough.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise for one hour until doubled.
- When the dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface pressing the dough out to form an approximate 24″ x 16″ rectangle.
- Use a pizza cutter or knife to cut the dough into approximately 3″ squares (as you can tell from my cut dough, this doesn’t need to be exact).
- Heat canola or peanut oil to 425 degrees.
- Carefully fry about 4-5 beignets in the hot oil for approximately 1-2 minutes per side or until golden brown.
- Carefully flip each beignet and fry the other side for an additional 1 minute.
- Remove with a large slotted spoon and allow the beignets to drain on paper towels.
- Continue frying the remaining cut beignets.
- Once drained, sprinkle the beignets liberally with powdered sugar or drizzle each with the almond glaze and sprinkle with the colored sanding sugar.
For additional Mardi Gras inspired recipes please click on the titles for;
Hurricane Matthew (A Hurricane Drink Recipe) by Off the Eaten Path
Vieux Carre Cocktail by Feast + West
No Churn Mardi Gras King Cake Ice Cream by The Speckled Palate
Cajun Spicy Tomato Soup by Online Pastry Chef
Jambalaya Balls by Love & Flour
Shrimp Hush Puppies by Stetted
Traditional Polish Pączki by The Crumby Kitchen
King Cake Donut Holes by Cake ‘n Knife
Easy Shrimp Po Boys by Simply Whisked
Easy Jambalaya by The Secret Ingredient Is
Mardi Gras King Cake by Nancie’s Table
Homemade Beignets by Kudos Kitchen by Renee
Pecan Pralines by Stephie Cooks
**The following affiliate links are some suggested products I’ve chosen that will aid you in the making and serving of today’s Kudos Kitchen recipe for homemade beignets for Mardi Gras if desired.
By clicking on the item photo, you’ll be taken directly to Amazon.com if you’re interested in purchasing any of these products. You are in no way required to do so, and you will not be charged in any way unless you decide to purchase one of these products through Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. For additional information please view my privacy policy.
Below is the printable recipe card for today’s Homemade Beignets.
If you’ve enjoyed this recipe and look forward to making it (or have already made it), I’d appreciate if you’d take a moment to give it some feedback by way of stars near the comment section at the end of this post. Thank you so much!
- 1 package 2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1½ cups warm water 110-115 degrees
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup warm milk
- 4 tablespoons butter at room temperature
- 7 cups all-purpose flour
- peanut oil
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 tablespoons milk
- sanding sugar purple, yellow, green
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In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Add the honey. Set aside for 5 minutes to allow the mixture to get foamy.
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In another small bowl, warm the milk and butter together. Not hot. Just warm to the touch.
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Pour the yeast mixture into a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), and add the milk and butter mixture.
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Add the eggs and granulated sugar to the yeast mixture, and beat to combine.
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Stir in 4 cups of flour and stir well to make a smooth dough.
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Turn the dough out and knead in the remaining flour until the dough forms a smooth, elastic ball.
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Place the dough into a bowl that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rest and rise until doubled in bulk (approximately 1 hour).
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Once risen, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and press the dough into a rectangle approximately 24" x 16"
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Use a knife or pizza cutter to cut the dough into approximate 3" squares.
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Carefully heat the oil in the high sided frying pan to reach 425 degrees.
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Carefully add 4 - 5 cut beignets to the hot oil and fry each side for 1-2 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Carefully flip the beignets and fry on the other side until golden.
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Use a large slotted spoon or spider to carefully remove the fried beignets to paper towels to drain.
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Continue frying the remaining dough.
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Once cooled, liberally sprinkle the beignets with a liberal amount of powdered sugar.
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To make the glaze:
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In a medium bowl, whisk together the 2 cups of powdered sugar, almond extract, and milk.
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Drizzle the fried beignets with the almond glaze and immediately sprinkle the glaze with the colored sanding sugar.
-When using the sanding sugar, make sure to sprinkle the beignets when the glaze is still wet.
-The glaze dries quickly so you need to act fast in order to get the sugar to stick to the glaze.
-You can add the glaze to a zip top bag and snip the corner of the bag to make a mock pastry bag, Or you can drizzle the glaze using the tines of a fork.
Tools and equipment;
Thermometer (for proper oil temperature), large high sided pot (for frying), spider or large slotted spoon (for removing beignets from oil), large/medium/small bowls, measuring cups, measuring spoons, paper towels,
I sincerely hope you’ve enjoyed today’s recipe for homemade beignets as much as I’ve enjoyed bringing it to you!
The colors of mardi gras are seen everywhere during the week-long celebration. Even in the wine glasses!
Cheers to that!
Dressed in the wonderful colors of Mardi Gras, or plain with a dusting of confectioners sugar, these homemade beignets are cause enough for celebration!
Should you have any questions regarding this recipe or anything else you’ve seen on my site, please don’t hesitate to contact me directly or leave me a comment in the comment section below. It is always my distinct pleasure to get back to you with a reply just as soon as I possibly can!
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Kudos Kitchen by Renée ~ Cooking up artistically delicious family-friendly dishes from my Kudos Kitchen to yours!
Until we eat again, I hope you have a delicious day!
**Note – The post above includes affiliate links. When I find a great product or service, I like to share it with my readers. Sometimes I use affiliate links so I can earn a commission for my recommendations. As always, I thank you for your support!
These are the most gorgeous beignets I’ve even seen! And your Mardi Gras glasses are awesome too!
Well these are stunning!
Renee, please bring these over now! They look perfect and love the almond icing (almond extract is a favourite of mine!)
Very cute and delicious looking way to celebrate Mardi Gras. I hope you do get to visit New Orleans one day. Take some beignets with you…they’ll love them!
Okay, my beignets never look near as perfect as these do. The mardi gras themed sugar is a sweet touch…literally. I’ve never been to New Orleans either, but I plan to eat my way through it when I do.
I’ve never been to NOLA, but it’s been in my top 5 must-visit destination forever! I do love me some beignets, though…and definitely hope to eat one from “the source” one day, but until then – I want a whole tray of yours. They’re gorgeous!
I would eat this ENTIRE batch. These are so pretty and fun!
These beignets look absolutely sinful and exactly what I need in my life!
These are gorgeous, I love the purple, can I have the whole pan, please? and also those hand painted glasses are super cute.
Dear Renee, These look fantastic!!! What a fun and festive treat for mardi gras…I wish I could try one. Pinning! xoxo, Catherine
Yum, these are total perfection! So pretty and festive!
Thank you, Kimberley. Glad you like them.
These are amazing!! Love your step by step photos too, you make it look so easy!
I’m glad you appreciate the photos. I happen to learn visually so, for me, I think it’s helpful to add lots of photos to my recipes. Thank you!
mmm I haven’t had a good beignets in a year or so and I’m missing them! I love your Mardi Gras, purple, gold and green beignets!!I’ve been to New Orleans and I loved it!
Thanks, Angie. Lucky you to have had beignets while in New Orleans. I need to go!
These are so beautiful! I can’t believe it’s almost Mardi Gras already!
Thank you so much, Lauren! It’s the colors of Mardi Gras that make these beignets so special.
I have never been to New Orleans but we are dying to go. In the meantime, can I indulge in all of these beauties?! Yum!
That’s how I feel, Meg. I can at least eat beignets until I get to NOLA.
Oh, my gosh! How creative are you!? Wow! These little pillows of Mardi Gras are so pretty! They’re perfect!
Thank you Nikki. Glad you enjoy these pillows of Mardi Gras. LOL
This is my favorite post of yours ever! Love everything about it. They’re so fun! And I love that you added almond extract to the icing. I don’t like regular powdered sugar icing like that but with almond extract?! Oh, man. Gimme! And what’d you do with all those beignets?! They go bad so quickly. Did you have a beignet eating party? I want to come next time!
I actually had my husband bring them to work with him the next day. I couldn’t trust myself having all those beignets in the house…
I love beignets but never tried them at home. These look really good!
Thanks, Shadi. They’re really easy to make and taste even better than they look!
I know you’ll enjoy them!
Dang, Renee! You don’t know how badly I want to sink my teeth into these bad boys. I think, like your husband, that they’d be best eaten in threes! =)
You and he are probably right, Jenni! 😉
These beignets are AMAZING!
Thank you!