Air Fryer Beignets

Enjoy a taste of New Orleans with Air Fryer Beignets. The easy-to-make dough is air-fried into pillows of fluffy pastry and dusted with powdered sugar, making them the perfect dessert to serve with coffee. You’ll love these sweet square-shaped donuts!

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 6

Rise Time 1

Total Time 1 26

Servings servings

Calories 153kcal

Author John Kanell

Equipment

Air fryer
mixing bowl
Stand mixer

Ingredients

⅓ cup warm whole milk (110-120F) (80ml)
⅓ cup + 1 teaspoon granulated sugar (66g)
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 cups all-purpose flour (240g)
1 large egg beaten
4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted (57g)
1½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
Cooking spray
Powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

In a small bowl, combine the milk, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and yeast. Whisk together and let the yeast bloom for 10 minutes, or until the mixture is very foamy on top.
Add the flour and remaining ¼ cup of sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the yeast mixture, egg, 2 tablespoons melted butter, vanilla, and salt. Mix on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium-low and mix until a smooth dough has formed, about 5 minutes. Stop and scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed.
Shape the dough into a ball and transfer to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm spot (about 75F) until visibly puffed, 1 to 1½ hours. (The dough won’t quite double in size but should be about 50% larger.)
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Stretch and roll the dough into a 6x8-inch rectangle. Cut the dough into three strips, lengthwise (2x8”), then into fourths, crosswise, creating twelve 2” squares.
Preheat the air fryer to 375°F.
Working in batches, spray the basket with nonstick cooking spray. Add 4 to 6 squares, leaving space between each, then brush evenly with some of the remaining 2 tablespoons of melted butter.
Air fryer for 6 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. (Check them after 3 minutes and brush with more butter if they aren’t browning evenly.) Remove from the basket and immediately dust with powdered sugar. Continue cooking the remaining squares. These are best served hot, so I suggest serving each batch right out of the air fryer while making the next.

Notes

Use warm milk that’s not too hot. Yeast works best if it is fed with sugar and warm water or warm milk before it is used. For this recipe, heat the whole milk to 100-110°F to help the yeast bloom, but avoid heating it further or it may kill the yeast, preventing the dough from rising.
Let the milk mixture sit at room temperature for 10 minutes or until foamy. The yeast mixture is ready to use when it has a foamy appearance. This will take about 10 minutes, but the time may vary depending on the temperature of the ingredients. If the yeast doesn’t get very foamy within 15 minutes, start over. Your milk may have been too coldor too hot, or the yeast may have been bad and not active anymore.
Cool the butter slightly before adding. The melted butter should be cooled slightly before adding it to the dough mixture. If it is too hot, it will cook the eggs or kill the yeast. I like to melt it first, then measure out all of my remaining ingredients and bloom the yeast, so it cools during that time.
Mix the dough until smooth. The dough hook does the work in this recipe, but make sure to give it time to do its job! Mix the dough on medium-low until it is smooth, or for about 5 minutes.
Oil the bowl used for rising. To prevent the dough from sticking as it rises, wipe the inside of a large bowl with oil before you transfer the dough ball. Use a bowl that will allow enough room for the dough to increase about 50% in size.
Choose a warm place to let the dough rise. The dough needs to rise for about 1-1½ hours before cutting and air frying. Select a spot in your kitchen that is warm, about 75°F, to promote a good rise. Some good places for rising are in the oven with just the oven light on, in a proofing drawer, in a sunny window, or on top of the refrigerator.
Slice the dough with a pizza cutter or sharp knife. No special equipment is needed to shape or cut the dough. A pizza cutter or sharp knife will quickly cut the dough into the signature square shape.
Brush with butter before cooking. After adding the beignets in the air fryer, brush the top of each square with melted butter. This will help them to have a crisp outer layer with a donut-like texture.
Air fry in batches if needed. This easy air fryer dessert cooks best when arranged in a single layer with space between each beignet. Depending on the size of your air fryer, you may need to cook the beignets in two or three batches.
Serve hot! These are best served hot, so I suggest serving each batch right out of the air fryer while making the next if cooking in batches.

Nutrition