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Beignet ( , also , "beignet" (US) and ; ) is a type of deep-fried pastry of French origin. It is commonly made from choux pastry, but can also be made using rice flour (rice beignets) or yeast-leavened batters. Beignets can be served in a variety of preparations, the most common being dusted with confectioner’s sugar. The pastry is popular in French, Hungarian, Italian, and American cuisines.
Variations often include banana or cooking banana – popular fruits in the port city – or berries. Other variations include savory fillings such as meat and cheese fillings.
Beignets can also be made with yeast pastry, which might be referred to as boules de Berlin in French, referring to Berliner doughnuts, which lack the typical doughnut hole in the center, filled with fruit or jam.
In Corsica, beignets made with chestnut flour (beignets de farine de châtaigne) are known as fritelli.
In Canadian French, Donuts are referred to alternately as beigne or beignet.
In former French colonies in West Africa, a beignet is a small ball of fried dough, in Senegal sometimes made with millet flour rather than wheat, equivalent to a Puff-puff.
Deep-fried yeast dough has been part of culinary tradition since at least the Middle Ages. The Spanish refer to this type of creation as "buelos", which likely shares etymology with the Celtic word for deep-fried yeast dough, "bigne".
In the United States, beignets have been popular within New Orleans Creole cuisine and may also be served as a dessert.
It is one of only two official state donuts—the only other one being the Boston cream doughnut, the state donut of Massachusetts.
Preparation varies by type. For yeast-leavened beignets, the ingredients are combined and a dough has formed, it is rolled out and then sliced into squares which are deep-fried for two to three minutes. The result is a puffy, golden brown pastry.
For choux pastry beignets, the chilled dough is piped or scooped before being fried in hot oil.
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