Disneyland Copycat Beignets (Mickey-Shaped)
Copycat beignets from Disneyland's New Orleans Square, cut with a Mickey cookie cutter instead of into squares. Yeast dough rises for about an hour, then fries into puffy pillows that get buried in powdered sugar while still warm.
Servings: 18 beignets
Calories: 453kcal
Equipment
- 1 Rolling Pin
- 1 cookie cutter
- 1 frying pan/ Dutch Oven
Ingredients
- 4 cups All-Purpose Flour
- ¾ cup water (lukewarm)
- 2½ teaspoon yeast
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- ⅓ cup white confectioner's sugar
- ½ cup evaporated milk or any drinking milk nonfat, low-fat or whole
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 whole egg room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoon melted butter
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup oil vegetable, canola or avocado
Instructions
- Bloom the yeast. Combine the yeast, a pinch of the sugar, and the warm water (105 to 110°F) in a small bowl. Let sit 5 to 10 minutes until foamy. If it doesn't foam, start over with fresh yeast.2½ teaspoon yeast, 1 teaspoon white sugar, ¾ cup water
- Mix the dough. Whisk the flour, remaining sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add the yeast mixture, evaporated milk, egg, vanilla, and melted butter. Stir until a shaggy dough forms.4 cups All-Purpose Flour, ⅓ cup white confectioner's sugar, ½ cup evaporated milk or any drinking milk, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 whole egg, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 3 tablespoon melted butter
- Knead. Turn onto a floured surface and knead 5 to 7 minutes until smooth and elastic. Keep flouring your hands and the counter, but avoid working extra flour into the dough.
- Rise. Place in an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise about 1 hour until doubled.
- Roll. Punch the dough down and roll out on a floured surface to ¼ inch thick.
- Cut. Cut with a Mickey cookie cutter, or into 2-inch squares with a pizza cutter. Set the scraps aside to re-roll once.
- Heat the oil. Heat 2 inches of neutral oil to 350°F in a deep pot. Use a thermometer.1 cup oil
- Fry. Fry 2 to 3 at a time, flipping once, until golden on both sides. They should puff within seconds of hitting the oil. Let the oil return to 350°F between batches.
- Dust and serve. Lift onto a paper towel-lined plate with a slotted spoon. Dust heavily with powdered sugar while still hot. Serve warm.¼ cup powdered sugar
Notes
Makes 18 Mickey-shaped beignets, including one re-roll of the scraps.
Check your yeast first. Bloom it in water at 105 to 110°F, warm to the touch but not hot. If it hasn't foamed after 10 minutes, the yeast is dead or the water was too hot. Start over rather than continuing, the dough will not rise.
Flour everything except the dough. This dough is sticky by design. Flour your hands, the counter, the rolling pin, and the cutter. Working extra flour into the dough itself makes the beignets tough instead of tender.
Roll to ¼ inch, no thinner. Thin dough fries flat instead of puffing.
Keep a thermometer in the oil. 350°F is the target and 350 to 375 is the working range. Below 350 the dough absorbs oil instead of inflating, and you cannot judge this by eye.
Fry two or three at a time. Every piece you add drops the oil temperature. Crowding the pot is the most common reason a batch comes out flat. Let the oil recover between batches.
They should puff within seconds. Dough that sits and browns without inflating means the oil is too cool or you rolled too thin. Stop and check before frying the rest. A beignet done right is mostly hollow inside.
Sugar them hot. Have the powdered sugar ready before you start frying. It sticks to a beignet straight out of the oil and slides off a cooled one.
Make the dough ahead. After the first rise, punch it down, cover, and refrigerate overnight or up to 2 days. The cold slows the yeast and builds flavor. Let it sit out 30 minutes before rolling.
Freeze the cut shapes. Freeze flat on a tray until solid, then bag. Fry from frozen, adding about a minute. Keeps 2 months.
Storage. Airtight at room temperature up to 2 days. Don't refrigerate finished beignets, the fridge dries fried dough out faster than the counter. Reheat at 350°F for 3 to 5 minutes and dust with fresh powdered sugar, since the original coating dissolves overnight.
Nutrition
Calories: 453kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 25.2g | Fat: 22.2g | Saturated Fat: 9.5g | Cholesterol: 37mg | Sodium: 2286mg | Potassium: 1214mg | Fiber: 12.9g | Sugar: 2.4g | Calcium: 54mg | Iron: 11mg
