Gluten free beignets. Just the sound of those words causes me to sigh (happily).
For those of us in the gluten free community, a Beignet may seem like a faint, sweet memory, but now it doesn’t have to be. I love when I can be the bearer of good news: Gluten Free Beignets are here, and you can make them ANYTIME you like! No need to wait for a trip to New Orleans or even for Mardi Gras. Gluten Free Beignets are yours for the taking whenever you have the craving!
Especially at Mardi Gras time of year, when we think all things New Orleans, take heart knowing these amazingly festive and special doughnuts, and even King Cakes are again within reach (you simply MUST try my gluten free King Cake recipe! Oh, and my gluten free étouffée!
Here are some other Mardi Gras recipe ideas from Southern Living Magazine I think I might have to dive into soon, as well! They’re not necessarily gluten free, but with my gfJules Flour, anything is possible!).
So grab your plastic beads, and let’s make some Gluten Free Beignets!
What’s A Beignet?
A little background on Beignets first. This quintessential New Orleans treat, the Beignet: (pronounced: ben-yay), is a crispy-on-the-outside, feather-light, heavenly doughnut, flash fried and smothered in confectioner’s sugar … and totally full of gluten.
They are unique to New Orleans, so I hadn’t been lucky enough to have one since my parents’ trip to Bourbon Street in the ’80s, when they brought back boxes of famous wheat-filled Café du Monde Beignet Mix.
Since I devised this recipe, I’ve actually had some gluten free beignets at Disney World which was a really cool experience to be able to order them out, but mine are better. Just being honest. Which means when you make these gluten free beignets with my recipe, yours will be better than a Disney chef’s too! (I think it’s the gluten free flour talking – it makes a huge difference, as you know.)
For years, the thought of ever enjoying such a soft, airy, gluten-free puffed doughnut seemed like an unachievable dream to me.
Now, sharing my gluten free beignet recipe with a host of friends and family (and two Louisiana natives), I am happy to pronounce my gluten free beignets are a resounding success! Made with my award-winning gfJules Flour, you would never know these delicate puffs are gluten free. No grit, no denseness, no funky taste. Just gluten free beignet perfection.
Whether you have had and now miss Beignets since going gluten-free, or are just curious to try these little puffs of New Orleans deliciousness, give this recipe a try, even if it’s not Mardi Gras time!
My children have never been to New Orleans, so when they tasted these gluten free Beignets, they announced that they taste just like funnel cakes, only better because they’re fluffy! Sounds pretty yummy to me! (Oh and yes, I have a recipe for gluten free Funnel Cakes too!).
How to Make Gluten Free Beignets
To make these beauties, you prepare the dough as outlined in the recipe, then cut into parallelograms (see, and you thought you would never use high school geometry again).
Then gather up the dough, re-roll and repeat to use up all the remaining dough:
Then allow them to rise for an hour or two or even overnight (covered, in a chilly garage or in the refrigerator for a long, slow rise works great!).
Once they’ve risen, you simply fry them. Check out my specific directions below for the oil temperature and for how long — it’s not hard or complicated, but it is precise.
Making Gluten Free Beignets in an Air Fryer
This year I tried something new and even made these babies in my Air Fryer! I have to say they were definitely a success! There are some differences though.
When the risen dough hits hot oil, it causes air pockets to form quickly in traditional beignets and in my gluten free beignets; in an air fryer, there’s no such rapid contact with high heat, so there are no huge air pockets formed. Nonetheless, the dough is still light and airy, if more uniform.
In my Cuisinart Toaster Air Fryer set on 350F, they only took about 2 minutes to cook in the air fryer. I misted them with water first and then with cooking oil spray so that they would be a bit wet when I took them out of the air fryer so that the powdered sugar would stick to them because … powdered sugar.
And lest you think these gluten free beignets must be too difficult to master, take inspiration from young Cosette:
Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!
Gluten Free Beignets Recipe
Gluten Free Beignets Recipe
Feather-light, airy puffs of dough fried (or air fried) and smothered in powdered sugar. That's heaven on a plate. That's a gluten-free beignet.
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water (110° F)
- 1/4 cup granulated cane sugar
- 1 package active dry or instant yeast
- 1 large egg (or 1 Tbs. vegetable oil + 2 Tbs. water + 2 tsp. baking powder)
- 1/2 cup evaporated milk (see directions below for making non-dairy evaporated milk or use Coconut Evaporated Milk)
- 3 3/4 cup gfJules All-Purpose Gluten Free Flour
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 Tbs. shortening (vegetable or palm shortening)
- high heat vegetable oil for frying
- confectioner’s sugar to dust Beignets
Instructions
Combine the warm water, sugar and yeast; stir and set aside to activate the yeast. Allow mixture to sit until it becomes frothy, at least 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, beat together the egg and milk. Add 1 cup of the gfJules Gluten Free All Purpose Flour and the salt. Beat until integrated.
Cut the shortening into small chunks and mix in with the 1 cup flour, egg and milk. Slowly beat in remaining flour and the proofed yeast mixture until completely mixed. The dough should start to pull away from the sides of the bowl and not be stiff or sticky at this point.
Turn the dough out onto a clean surface or pastry mat lightly dusted with gfJules Gluten Free All Purpose Flour. Roll gently into a 1/2-inch thick rectangle.
Using a large, sharp knife, cut strips of dough 2 inches wide, on a diagonal (not straight up and down, leaving a diagonal edge to the strips). Cut across these strips 2 inches across in the same way, creating 2x2 diamond-shaped Beignets.
Cut in this way, you should have approximately 24 Beignets with extra dough scraps.
Leave any scraps of dough to test the temperature of the oil – do not knead together and cut again. Place cut Beignets onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and cover loosely with a damp towel or parchment paper.
Allow to rise in a warming drawer or an oven brought to 200° F, then turned off. The Beignets will roughly double in size after rising for 45 – 90 minutes (I’ve left them covered overnight in the refrigerator or a chilly garage for a long, slow rise as well, and they turned out great!).
After the Beignets have risen, pour vegetable oil into a large saucepan to a depth of 2-3 inches. Heat the oil on medium-high to approximately 370° – 385° F.
Test the temperature of the oil by using any risen scraps of dough remaining. Gently submerge a piece of dough in oil – if it rises to the top of the oil immediately and begins to bubble, the oil is hot enough; if it does not rise to the top of the oil, it is not hot enough. If the dough turns dark brown within 30 seconds of being submerged, the oil is too hot.
Once the oil is to temperature, gently submerge 2 – 3 Beignets in hot oil and cook until lightly browned and puffed on each side – approximately 1- 2 minutes only.
Remove with a skimmer or slotted spoon to drain on paper towels, and sprinkle confectioner’s sugar liberally over top of each Beignet. Serve warm.
Directions for Non-Dairy Evaporated Milk:
Measure 1 cup non-dairy milk of choice and pour into a small saucepan.
Over low-medium heat, stir milk occasionally to prevent a skin from forming or the milk from sticking to the pan. Heat until the milk is reduced by half to measure 1/2 cup of liquid (allow approximately 30 minutes for this process).
Once reduced, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly before adding to dough per recipe.
Alternatively, mix 2/3 cup warm water with 1/2 cup powdered non-dairy milk (like coconut milk powder). Whisk together, then measure out enough for your recipe.
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I could not get these to rise no matter what I did. I went through 8 batches :(. I don’t even know how much money we spent trying to make these happen haha. I tried the garage, I tried the oven, I tried the fridge, everything. They are more like cookies due to the lack of rise.
Hi Jennifer, it sounds like maybe you have a bad batch of yeast? Check out this article all about yeast and see if it helps give some clues about what happened with the yeast you were using. There are no other leavening agents in this dough, so if they didn’t rise, there had to be a problem with the yeast (assuming you didn’t make any other ingredient substitutions and followed the recipe instructions, of course). It doesn’t happen often, but it’s certainly possible to get a bad batch of yeast. I’m so sorry to hear about all the wasted batches!!!
~jules
I’m sharing my photo because I’m so proud that I was able to do this. Thank you Jules. You enabled not just me but I’m sure so many!
And 3 gluten people thought they are delicious, also! Yea!
~Beth
Your gluten free beignets are beautiful, Beth! They look so light and fluffy and of course, so festive!! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your photo! Happy Mardi Gras!!!
~jules
I am so excited that I tried this recipe! Inspired by you and your many comments, I figured I should. Plus, I am a recently retired French teacher. The oil was ready at 350 degrees, the air fryer didn’t knock my socks off. I turned them over in the oil after 1 minute, finished at 2 minutes.
I agree that the air fryer isn’t my favorite way to enjoy these treats because I love when they get those pockets of air in the middles! But it’s nice to have options!! 🙂 How special to be able to make these beignets gluten free after all those that you must’ve enjoyed over the years of teaching French. You certainly must know your beignets!!!!!
~jules
Brilliant recipe! Loved it
So glad, Ellie!! Thanks for taking thee time to let me know!
~jules
I’m dying to try this recipe but I have a question…On the top part of the recipe it says to let them rise up to overnight even in a cold garage but in the actual recipe it says to let them rise in a warm oven. Which is the best way to let them rise, cold or warm?
Hi Maria, I’m so glad you’re going try this gluten free beignets recipe! There are two ways to rise the dough: overnight for a slow, long rise where the dough should not be very warm at all in order to control the speed of the rise, or a warmer, faster rise. The oven should be off though, for the latter method. Hope that helps!
~jules
The Beignets were truly wonderful. I spent all morning making them and they truly are the best thing I’ve put in my mouth in a long time! I paired them with a chocolate sauce and it was heaven. I’m 12 so I didn’t deep fry them. I air fried them in our Zenchef air fryer and it worked great. They were done in 5 minutes and the powdered sugar stuck to them. Your flour have been amazing and now I bake almost everyday with it. Thank you so much for bringing back real food for me!
SO PRETTY, Cosette! I’m totally impressed and so very happy to se that these gluten free beignets worked in an air fryer! I suspected they would, but hadn’t had time to try they yet, myself! Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know, and to share your pic!!!! Five minutes to cook heavenly gluten free beignets is a pretty great deal! I’m thrilled to know you are baking so much and so appreciate you sharing your baking joy with me!!! Keep up the great work!!!
~jules
Hi Jules –
This beignet recipe is similar to my family’s Zeppole (Italian fried doughnut) recipe.
This was my third attempt at this recipe but with your flour. The result was just perfect! Browned and very light on the inside.
Here’s how I made them:
1 envelope of fast rise/instant yeast
1 cup of warm water
1 cup of GF Jules Flour
Canola oil for frying
Sugar for dusting
I let the yeast/water proof for 5 mins and mixed into the flour gradually. Dough was not dry but not too sticky
Let is rise overnight
Heated up the oil and dropped the dough (in shape of small balls) in the hot oil.
Cooked until browned, then placed on a towel to absorb the additional oil
Rolled in sugar while hot.
Amazing!
Thank you Jules!!
Thank you SO MUCH for sharing your family’s Zeppole recipe made gluten free, Angela! I can. not. wait. to try this!!!! They look amazing! And I bet they are very similar to these gluten free beignets — so light and airy!!! I’m thrilled to hear that your family has these back in again, gluten free!
~jules
Hi Angela or Jules 🙂
For the Zeppole’s, would we use only the five ingredients you listed? Thks! (Inexperienced baker! Ha)
Best, Carole
Hi Carole, yes, if you would like a yeasted Zeppole, this is the recipe to use! Otherwise, you could look at another recipe like my gluten free filled doughnut holes and see if that’s more along the lines of what you’re looking for. You can’t go wrong with either one — YUM!!!
~jules
This is a delicious recipe. GF Jules flour didn’t taste sandy or gritty. The texture is very smooth. They rose perfectly, and fried up great. I have an induction cook top which made it easier to control the temperature of the oil. They did have a denser consistency than full gluten beignets. This could have been my technique though! I will certainly make these again! Yum!
I’m so glad you loved them, Debby, and that you noticed how lovely and light the gfJules Flour is! No grit is our trademark!!! Beignets are a treat no one should have to go without, don’t you agree?
~jules
is there something we can use to replace shortening?
My family absolutely adored these beignets! I’ve never worked with a gluten free dough that is so springy and pliable; very impressive. Instructions were great and clear! These are going to be made again.
Fantastic to hear, Ashleigh! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review! It’s amazing what working with gfJules Flour can do with doughs like this – it makes all the difference in the world, and makes it fun to bake again!!!
~jules
These were absolutely fantastic! Took me back to French class! I did it both in the Air Fryer and deep fried them for a side by side comparison. While the Air Fryer ones were good (mine took 3-4 minutes), the deep fried ones were sensational! If you aren’t having to super be careful and have to watch trans fats and/or cholesterol, I would recommend taking the time to deep fry them!
I agree, Alesia. It’s nice to have options with the air fryer, but the deep fried gluten free beignets are truly magic and exactly like the ones from the French Quarter! So glad you loved them, too!
~jules