Mardi Gras is upon us! Really? Where has the time gone?! We love celebrating anything we can and Mardi Gras is no exception. So what do we do for Mardi Gras? Well, we always focus on the food. So we usually make jambalaya and king cake. To add a bit of magic to our celebration, we made it Princess and the Frog Style because of course, ya can’t have a Mardi Gras without some man catchin beignets! And to add a bit more magic, we decided to make them Mickey Beignets, just like you can get at Port Orleans French Quarter at Walt Disney World.
Mickey Beignets
This recipe is super easy, but if you’re short on time or not much of a baker, you can also use this mix which makes delicious beignets and just requires the mix and water. The recipe we used is from Tiana’s Cookbook: Recipes for Kids. It was pretty simple, but does require adult supervision since there is frying involved.
We’ve also since created a Mickey Beignet Milkshake, which we highly recommend trying out if you like crazy shakes!
These are great for breakfast, with an afternoon coffee or tea or a late night snack. Or all three if you’re really celebrating the spirit of Mardi Gras!
Instead of cutting them into squares, we used a Mickey shaped cookie cutter instead, because why not?!
A word of caution on these, do not overmix or over handle the dough.
Fry them up, but don’t over cook!
Sprinkle with (lots of) powdered sugar!
And voila! Tiana’s man catchin’ Beignets! Nothing but blue skies and sunshine guaranteed;)
How to make Mickey Beignets
Tiana’s Famous Beignets from Tiana’s Cookbook Recipes for Kids
- 2 3/4 c. flour
- 1/3 c. sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 c. buttermilk
- 1/3 c. water
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- Vegetable Oil for frying
- Confectioner’s sugar, for dusting
Directions
- In a medium bowl, combine 2 1/4 cups of the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Whisk everything together.
- In a large bowl, whisk together buttermilk, water, egg, and vanilla. Stir in the dry ingredients.
- Use remaining flour to dust work surface. Place the dough on it and pat it into a large 1/2 inch thick square. Dust the top with more if it gets sticky. Next, slice the dough into 2 1/2 squares.(This is where we used the Mickey cookie cutter instead.)
- Now it’s time to fry the beignets. Heat 2 inches of vegetable oil in a heavy saucepan on the stove top until the temperature reaches 325 degrees on a deep fat thermometer. Check the temperature every so often while cooking. If it gets too hot, temporarily turn the heat down or off.
- Carefully drop 3 dough squares at a time in the hot oil. Fry them for three minutes(we only fried ours for about 2 minutes, so just keep a close eye on them while they cook), turn them over, and continue frying for 3 more minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the beignets to a wire rack set atop paper towels to drain. Dust the beignets with confectioner’s sugar and enjoy!
