Recipe: Air Fryer Beignets
Here’s the easiest way to armchair travel down to New Orleans: Pull out your air fryer and make these pillowy beignets piled high with powdered sugar quicker than you can say Big Easy. Not only do they come together easily, but there’s also no deep frying—meaning less cleanup for you and so you can get right to dunking these treats into a hot cup of coffee.
Air Fryer Beignets: Watch the Video
Big Easy Treats—Emphasis on the Easy
The air fryer is a big time-saver on its own, but these beignets have a few extra corner-cutters built in so you can be eating fried dough even faster. The first is that they start with self-rising flour. This eliminates the need to keep yeast on hand or wait impatiently through a rising time. Stir the flour into a mixture of Greek yogurt (and vanilla and sugar if you want a little extra flavor), and your beignet dough is ready.
Then, when it’s time to form the beignets, use a piece of Bounty paper towels to form the dough into a rectangle. This will keep the mixture off your hands so that you’re not scraping dough off every tool handle and cabinet pull in your kitchen when you’re done cooking. Later, a few more sheets of Bounty make clean up a cinch. Set the beignets on a sheet of paper towel to absorb any extra oil that might be sticking onto the beignets when they come out of the fryer. And, you can dampen a couple sheets of paper towels to help wipe out the air fryer when you’re all done.
Be forewarned: these beignets are best straight out of the fryer, so be ready for your family and friends to be hovering around the kitchen, ready to snag their own New Orleans–inspired treat.
Air Fryer Beignets
Prep time 20 minutes
Cook time 28 minutes
Makes 9 beignets
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
- 1 cup
plain Greek yogurt (8 ounces)
- 2 tablespoons
granulated sugar (optional)
- 1 teaspoon
vanilla extract (optional)
- 1 cup
self-rising flour, plus more for the work surface
Olive oil or coconut oil spray
- 2 tablespoons
unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup
powdered sugar
Instructions
Stir the yogurt, granulated sugar, and vanilla if using together in a medium bowl until combined. Add the flour and stir until all of the flour is moistened and a dough forms.
Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. Fold the dough over onto itself 2 to 3 times until smooth. Pat into a 4x5-inch (1-inch thick) rectangle, then cut into 9 pieces. Separate the pieces and lightly dust each side with flour until smooth and no longer tacky. Set aside for 15 minutes.
Heat an air fryer to 350°F. Line a large plate with Bounty paper towels; set aside.
Lightly coat the air fryer basket with olive or coconut oil spray (do not use vegetable oil cooking spray, which can damage the coating on the basket). Brush the tops of the beignets with butter. Place 4 to 5 of them butter-side down in a single layer without touching in the air fryer. Brush the tops of the beignets with butter. Close the air fryer and reset to 350°F if needed. Cook on the first side until the edges appear dry and begin to brown and the beignet releases easily from the basket, about 7 minutes. Flip and cook until golden brown on the second side, 6 minutes more.
Transfer to the Bounty paper towel–lined plate and generously dust with powdered sugar. Repeat with frying the remaining beignets. Serve warm, they are best served immediately after frying.
