Celebrate Shrove Tuesday (or any day!) in true New Orleans-style with these truly authentic, soft and fluffy gluten free beignets.
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Have you ever been to New Orleans for Mardi Gras? I actually have, and it was super overwhelming. And I'm not even sure I had a beignet.
I went when I was in college in upstate New York. I literally hopped in a van with about 7 other young women and drove down to The Big Easy.
We got a flat tire along the way, maybe somewhere in Alabama. I remember the flat tire, and the ride—but I have no memory of how we got it changed. I'm sure none of us had AAA! But we finally made it, and I'm sorry to say that I don't think the food was what drew us there.
Well, if I'm being totally honest, what drew me there was a guy I was dating (!) who was a native. And he and his native-born friends were not so into Mardi Gras.
So it was years later that I remember ever having a beignet—and I could kick myself for not having one in NoLa! Gluten free beignets are really just a type of gluten free donut (and are, in fact, adapted from the recipe for Glazed Yeast-Raised Donuts from Gluten Free on a Shoestring Bakes Bread).
But they're even more yeasty, and (clearly) have no hole. They start out as squares of dough, rolled flat, and they puff up like crazy in the frying oil. It's a sight to behold! And, when it comes to beignets you don't need any of the extras that accompany traditional donuts. Jam, chocolate, glaze are unnecessary when faced with these sweet, sugary pillows.
Mardi Gras is coming, and these New Orleans-Style Gluten Free Beignets … are here to remind you of one thing: If they can make it with gluten, we can make it without! These little puffs might look complicated, but trust me, they're not, and they're worth any effort you put in.
See how they start out as thin little, not-very-exciting-looking squares of gluten free dough? Look what a quick spin in the fryer does!
Okay, and a generous dusting of confectioners' sugar doesn't hurt either…
Words just cannot convey how delicious these tender, yeasty little super-puffy beignets are. They're like small clouds of melt-in-your-mouth delights. Whether you make it to Mardi Gras or not (for me, that would be a “not”), there's no reason you can't eat like you're there.
Oh, the pleasures of a warm beignet with a cup of coffee, if the weather is miserable outside, there couldn't be a better pairing to enjoy. And be smarter than I ever was back in college—don't forget the food is the most important part of any holiday!
If you want to expand your Mardi Gras baking bonanza, take a look at my delicious gluten free King Cake. It's the explosive color and deliciousness your kids will love, without needing to join Mardi Gras itself.
So, time to start making your gluten free beignets and let the good times roll!
Gluten Free Beignets | New Orleans Style
Equipment
- Stand mixer fitted with dough hooks
Ingredients
- 3 cups (420 g) Gluten Free Bread Flour plus more for sprinkling (you must use my gluten free bread flour blend to make this recipe; please click thru for full info)
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- 2 ⅔ teaspoons (8 g) instant yeast
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 12 ounces evaporated milk at room temperature
- 1 ½ tablespoons white vinegar
- 4 tablespoons (48 g) nonhydrogenated vegetable shortening melted and cooled (I use Spectrum brand)
- 1 (50 g (weighed out of shell)) egg at room temperature, beaten
- Vegetable oil for frying
- 1 cup (115 g) confectioners’ sugar for sprinkling (plus more as necessary)
Instructions
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, place the flour, cream of tartar, instant yeast and sugar, and use a handheld whisk to combine well. Add the salt and whisk to combine well.
- Add the evaporated milk, vinegar, shortening and eggs, and mix on low speed with the dough hook until combined.
- Raise the mixer speed to medium and knead for about 5 minutes. The dough is a lovely, smooth enriched dough.
- Spray a silicone spatula lightly with cooking oil spray, and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl or proofing bucket large enough for the dough to rise to double its size, spray the top of the dough with cooking oil spray, and cover with an oiled piece of plastic wrap (or the oiled top to your proofing bucket).
- Place the dough in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours and up to 3 days (See Recipe Notes)
Prepare the dough for shaping.
- On baking day, line a rimmed baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper, spray it with cooking oil and set it aside.
- Turn out the chilled dough onto a lightly floured surface and, using the scrape and fold kneading method and using a very light touch, sprinkle the dough with more flour and knead it lightly, sprinkling with flour when necessary to prevent it from sticking, scrape the dough off the floured surface with a floured bench scraper. Fold it over on itself.
- Repeat scraping and folding until the dough has become smoother. Do not overwork the dough or you will incorporate too much flour and it will not rise properly.
Shape the dough.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Sprinkling lightly with flour as necessary to prevent sticking, roll it out into a rectangle that is about 1/2-inch thick.
- Spray a large piece of unbleached parchment paper generously with cooking spray, and transfer the dough to the greased paper.
- With a floured rolling pin, continue to roll out the dough into a rectangle about 1/4-inch thick and about 12-inches square, sprinkling very lightly with flour as necessary to prevent sticking.
- With a pizza wheel, pastry wheel or sharp knife, trim any ragged edges to create a proper square. Slice the rectangle into 12 3-inch squares.
- Transfer the squares to the prepared baking sheet, placed about 1 inch apart, and cover loosely with an oiled piece of plastic wrap.
- Set in a warm, draft-free location to rest and rise slightly for about 20 minutes.
Fry the beignets.
- While the dough is finishing its final rise, place about 3 inches of frying oil in a large, heavy-bottom stockpot.
- Over medium-high heat, clip a candy/frying thermometer to the side of the stockpot and bring the temperature of the oil to 325°F.
- For best results, keep a close eye on the temperature of the oil and maintain the proper temperature in between batches of frying dough.
- Uncover the risen dough and place the worst-looking beignet in the hot oil and fry until light golden brown all over (about 1 minute per side). The dough will puff up as it fries.
- This first piece of dough dirties the oil a bit (slightly dirty oil fries more evenly than completely clean dough). If the dough browns too quickly or fries in a speckled fashion, the oil is too hot.
- Remove the beignet from the hot oil. Place it on a paper towel-lined plate to drain.
- Place the remaining 11 beignets in the hot oil in batches of about 2 to 3 until light golden brown (about 1 minute per side). Drain on paper towel-lined plates.
- After all of the beignets are fried and while they are still warm, sprinkle both sides liberally with confectioners’ sugar.
- To cover the beignets evenly and completely with confectioners’ sugar, place the sugar in a large zip-top plastic bag, and then place the warm beignets in the bag about 4 at a time.
- Seal the bag, shake vigorously, then remove the beignets from the bag.
- Serve immediately. If you’ve never had a warm beignet, you don’t know what you’re missing.
Notes
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Thanks for stopping by!
Hi, I’m Nicole. I create gluten free recipes that really work and taste as good as you remember. No more making separate meals when someone is GF, or buying packaged foods that aren’t good enough to justify the price. At Gluten Free on a Shoestring, “good, for gluten free” just isn’t good enough! Come visit my bio!
Erin Lowery Baerwaldt says
Made these tonight! I had never had a beignet (we live in Nevada…. Never seen them before). These were super yummy! We loved them!
Pam Gordon says
remind me of my grams’ faschtnachts! only those had granulated sugar on the outside…….!
Diane Buma says
Nicole – you are AWESOME! I was so excited when I saw this recipe! In the things I’d love Nicole to create . . . how hard would it be to make these into a gingerbread beignet? Disneyland makes them at Holiday time and they are so good! Thanks again for all you do! The necklace is totally on order :)
Linda Lord says
I’m also dairy free – what would be a good substitute for the evaporated milk? Also would an alternate all-purpose flour blend work (I can’t the whey protein)? Can’t wait to try these!!
Mare Masterson says
You can google non diary evaporated milk alternative and get your answer for that one. In the book Gluten Free On A Shoestring Bakes Bread, Nicole provides for non-dairy substitutes for the whey protein isolate, and she tells you how to adjust the recipe when using the non-dairy substitutes. Cannot recall the page numbers…I want to say 8-9?
Nicole Hunn says
Pages 10-11. Thank you so much for jumping in, Mare! I love it when you do that. Huge help! :)
connorbarnas says
I’m online, searching “gluten free calzones”. You had me at “I don’t think you’re making pizza and calzones”. Funny, I read it as “Enough pizza and calzones” as in I’m not making Enough pizza and calzones. And I’m not. So I wanted to tell you and comment and the comments were closed so I came here to comment and you have Beignets on your current page. Have you ever had a true sopapilla, in New Mexico, fluffy and light, like a puffed up beignet? Heaven. So now you’ve had me at that first quote, and again, at “gluten free beignets”. Oh thank you. xo
Nicole Hunn says
Clearly, you’re in the right place, connorbarnas. You will get all the make-more-pizza-and-calzones encouragement a person could ever need right here. I have had sopapillas. Heaven indeed. These are pretty close. :)
Brad G says
Hi Nicole, what do you think would happen if one popped these in the oven instead of putting them in the fryer?
Nicole Hunn says
I don’t recommend that at all, Brad. Baking yeast donuts doesn’t work very well, I’m afraid. Cake donuts might be what you’re looking for. I have a number of recipes for those, both on the blog and in my Quick and Easy cookbook.
Monica F says
Hi Anita,
I’m in Ottawa as well and buy my Ultratex 3 online from modernist pantry. Shipping on 400 g is $20. I know it’s steep but the Ultratex adapted recipe calls for less of this ingredient than expandex so you don’t go through it as quickly. Hope this helps.
Anita Ucke says
Hi Monica, thanks! That’s a way better price per pound, and helps make up for the shipping cost! I also need the pea and rice protein isolates because we are dairy free as well…sigh!…and hoping to find those locally. I think Natural Food Pantry should carry the Now Foods Pea Protein Isolate.
Monica F says
Maybe! Kardish can be helpful if you send an email. Bulk Barn has unexpected finds too. Good luck!!
Mare Masterson says
Oh, Donia…I have you to thank for this! I finally got double rise!. In the oven with bowl of hot water next to it. Thank you so much!
Jennifer S. says
Good job Mare!! :)
kld4413 says
I just ordered some ultratex 3 off of amazon. I’m in the US, but it was available for me with free shipping through amazon prime (so it’s being sold through amazon). It was a different brand than I’d seen before, but from what I can gather all Ultratex3 is the same. Also, the person who reviewed it on amazon specifically stated they had used it for a GFOASS recipe and it worked well. I’ve had trouble finding expandex in the US that wasn’t going to charge me what seemed like an obscene shipping rate, so I went with the ultratex. There were actually 2 brands available on amazon, but I went with the “4mular Ultratex 3” because it was the cheapest per ounce and had that good review. Good luck!
Anita Ucke says
Thanks kld4413! I really appreciate the info. I checked it out and unfortunately Amazon.com won’t ship it to Ottawa :(
Mare Masterson says
Nicole – hugs, kisses, jumping up and down, I love you and you rock big time!!! Can we add Zeppole to the recipes I would love Nicole to make section?
Nicole Hunn says
Ooooh excellent idea, Mare! I love zeppole. Especially served with a little pastry cream. Mmmmmm…. Consider it high on the list! Oh, and by the way, when I have my site redesigned (should go live sometime this May), there will be a way for readers to easily submit recipe requests. :)
Mare Masterson says
Jumping up and down in my chair right now. Oh God I owe you a thousand hugs! BFFL!
Jennifer S. says
I almost spit out my skinny white chocolate raspberry mocha when I saw this recipe this morning!!! YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM! I’m so going to mix these up to make this weekend. I have not had a donut in soooo long. Also, this is going to sound like I live in the whole in the ground but I’ve never even had a beignet. Can you believe that?
Nicole Hunn says
LOL, Jennifer. I see you speak Starbucks! I, on the other hand, only know how to gawk at the treats with an eye toward recreating them, and order a “medium coffee with cream.” ;)
Nicole Hunn says
Hi, Anita, please click on this link and scroll down to #6: https://glutenfreeonashoestring.com/gluten-free-resources/. I think you’ll find that I’ve covered most questions about gluten free bread in my Bread FAQs. You should be good to go!
Anita Ucke says
Thanks for replying Nicole. The issue with the American suppliers you’ve so graciously provided links to, is that they either don’t have the product in stock or the shipping cost is astronomical. I’ll assume then, that my fellow Canadians;
1. Are opting to pay these high shipping costs from long distance US businesses.
2. Have found a supplier closer to home with more reasonable shipping costs.
3. Are out of luck for the time being, until Amazon carries it again, and can hopefully ship more economically.
I’m interested in #2, and was hoping you’d have some additional info. on that subject, but based on your reply it seems you may not. Thanks for your time, and as always, your dedication to the cause ;) I know how busy you must be.
Nicole Hunn says
Yes, Anita, that’s why I suggested you scroll down to #6 in that Resources link for instructions on how to use Ultratex 3 in place of Expandex. You found the Canadian supplier of Ultratex 3 already. I believe that is what your fellow Canadians have been doing!
Anita says
Good morning Nicole, those look delicious!
I’m sure you’re really tired of hearing this, so sorry… I can’t seem to get my hands on Ultratex3 or Expandex up here in OTTAWA CANADA without paying $28US shipping from Willpowder. Navan and Amazon are out of stock with no ETA. I have found a Canadian supplier “Powder to the People” of Ultratex3 who appears to charge a $20CAN flat shipping rate ($13 for a 100g jar of Ultratex3). I would love to connect with other Canadians who follow your blog to find out where they are getting either of these products at a reasonable shipping cost. Any help you could afford me would be much appreciated. Here is the link to the Canadian supplier if you think your other Canadian followers might find it helpful, http://www.powdertothepeople.ca/collections/shop/products/ultratex-3
Mare Masterson says
Have you tried this: http://www.powdertothepeople.ca
Anneke says
I think your neck would be weighed down by all the “best” and “friend” halves you would get . . .
Nicole Hunn says
LOL, Anneke. A good problem to have! ;)
Jennifer S. says
I should send mine today – to you both! :)
Kristy B. says
I so hoped this was where you were headed. Yesssss.