As you bite into one of these Sourdough Einkorn Beignets, you’re rewarded with a light and crispy cinnamon sugar crunch and a burst of tangy banana-filled goodness.
These exquisite fried treats are the challenge for the Bread Baking Babes for August. Since we are in the heat of the summer, Elle of Feeding my Enthusiasms, the host kitchen for the month, chose a bread that didn’t need an oven. She chose Beignets because they only require a couple of minutes of standing over a hot stove.
She provided a recipe and encouraged us to play around, try different grains for the flour, and add things like dried fruit in the dough or a filling in the center. I took her up on her suggestion and used Einkorn and filled the pastries with bananas, but I also took it a step further and made them with sourdough.
I agree with Elle’s description, “warm and sort of melty when the beignets are finished and quite yummy with a coating of cinnamon sugar.”
What are Beignets?
According to Wikipedia: “Beignet (English pronunciation: /bɛnˈjeɪ/; French: [bɛɲɛ], literally bump), synonymous with the English “fritter”, is the French term for a pastry made from deep-fried choux pastry. Beignets can also be made from other types of dough, including yeast dough.
Beignets are commonly known in New Orleans as a breakfast served with powdered sugar on top. They are traditionally prepared right before consumption to be eaten fresh and hot. Variations of fried dough can be found across cuisines internationally; however, the origin of the term beignet is specifically French.
In the U.S., beignets have been popular within New Orleans Creole cuisine and are customarily served as a dessert or in some sweet variation. They were brought to New Orleans in the 18th century by French colonists, from “the old mother country”, and became a large part of home-style Creole cooking, variations often including banana or plantain – popular fruits in the port city. Beignets were declared the official state doughnut of Louisiana in 1986.”
These pastries remind me of the cinnamon-sugar donut holes my mom used to make in the deep fryer when we were growing up. The difference is that these delightful morsels are made with Einkorn flour and sourdough which makes them easier to digest and they are infused with bananas for an added boost of flavor.
I fried them in safflower oil due to its increased health benefits over other types of cooking oils. I try not to eat fried foods very often but now and then I think it’s okay. Everything in moderation, right? And, with these beignets, a little goes a long way.
Adapted from: The Gingered Whisk Sourdough Beignets
I used a slightly different recipe than the host kitchen this month because I wanted to utilize sourdough. However, I did incorporate Elle’s idea of filling them with banana slices. Yum!
PrintSourdough Einkorn Beignets
- Yield: 48 Small Beignets 1x
Description
As you bite into one of these Sourdough Einkorn Beignets, you’re rewarded with a light and crispy cinnamon sugar crunch and a burst of tangy banana-filled goodness.
Ingredients
- 1 cup Sourdough Starter, 100% hydration *
- 3 cups all-purpose Einkorn flour
- 1/4 cup organic sugar
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- 1/2 – 3/4 cup whole milk, depending on the hydration of the starter **
- Safflower oil for frying
- Cinnamon sugar for dusting
- 1–2 bananas, sliced for filling (optional, but delicious)
* You can use up to 1 1/4 cups of starter in this recipe with good results. Just remember to adjust the flour and/or hydration accordingly when incorporating more than 1 cup of starter.
** Start with 1/2 cup milk and add more if necessary
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add the starter, 1/2 cup of milk, and melted butter and mix to incorporate. In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
- Combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. Check the hydration and add more flour or milk as needed until there are no bits of dry flour.
- Form the dough into a ball, place in the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, or kitchen towel, and autolyse (rest) for 20 minutes.
- After the autolyse, knead the dough until it is soft and pliable, a few minutes.
- Form the dough back into a ball and place in the bowl, lightly greased if you prefer, then cover again with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and allow to sit on the counter for 4 hours.
- Fold the dough after the 1st hour and again after the 2nd hour. Allow the dough to rest for the final 2 hours.
- Place the bowl in the fridge, and allow it to ferment for up to 48 hours (the longer you let it sit the better it will be!)
- When you are ready to make the beignets, lightly flour the counter, or if you are using Einkorn flour, you may need to heavily flour the surface.
- Roll half of the dough into a 9-inch by 18-inch rectangle, about 1/4-inch thick. Place banana slices in groups of four slices on one half of the dough, leaving a small space between groups of bananas.
- Fold the other half of the dough over the bananas. Press down with the edge of your hand between the groups of bananas to seal and cut between the groups, using a pizza wheel or sharp knife.
- Transfer banana squares (or rectangles as it were) to a parchment-lined baking sheet and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm, draft-free spot for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat a large skillet with about 2″ of oil in it until hot (about 325 degrees)
- Working with 4-6 squares at a time (don’t crowd your skillet!) drop the dough into the hot oil, flipping the beignets often until they are golden brown and puffed. This will only take a minute or so.
- Transfer beignets to a paper towel-lined cooling rack to drain. Coat with cinnamon sugar, and repeat the process with the remaining dough.
- Enjoy them while they are warm!
Notes
These sourdough beignets are best eaten warm, but they reheat well the next day.
- Category: Sweet Rolls
- Method: Sourdough
- Cuisine: New Orleans Creole
Would you like to bake Beignets with us this month? Pat is the host kitchen this month. You’ll find the details on how to participate on her blog Feeding my Enthusiasms.
I’m sure you’ll also want to check out the Biegnets the other Babes made.
– Karen
blog from OUR kitchen – Elizabeth
Bread Experience – Cathy
Feeding my Enthusiasms – Elle
Judy’s Gross Eats – Judy
Karen’s Kitchen Stories – Karen
My Kitchen In Half Cups – Tanna
Notitie Van Lien – Lien
Thyme for Cooking – Katie
A Messy Kitchen – Kelly
Happy Baking!
Cathy
Sourdough AND einkorn! You’ve definitely taking it to the next level. Beautiful.
Thanks Karen! These were pretty awesome! I’ve been wanting to try them for awhile.
They’re totally gorgeous! And I’ll bet they hold better than normal because of the sourdough. Must try.
Thank you Kelly! They did hold up fairly well and I liked the bit of tanginess from the sourdough.
They look perfect!! And I really like that you used granulated sugar to coat them.
Thanks Elizabeth! The cinnamon sugar topping worked really well with the sourdough and banana.
Cinnamon and sugar on something warm for breakfast (or anytime)…. Simply wonderful!
Thanks Katie! They were simply wonderful!
Oh, yay! Another sourdough recipe to add to my list. I will definitely have to make these again with this variation.
Judy you do need to make the sourdough version. They are totally worth it!
How to make sourdough starter? Please send the recipe
Hi Amalia, just do a search for sourdough starter on my blog and you’ll find a few methods. I used a spelt starter with this loaf, but you can use the einkorn starter or AP – all purpose starter as well.
Love that you made them with sourdough. Your beignets all look so perfect, very pretty!
This is definitely the first thing I make when I get off GAPS! My husband and I went to New Orleans with another couple, and all of us were disappointed with the tourist beignet shops.
You do need to make these. They are delish!
There is not enough liquid with my starter. What does 100 percent hydration mean? I am using einkorn starter that I use to make jovial foods einkorn recipes.
Hi Patty, 100% hydration means that you feed your starter with the same amount of water and flour. A liquid starter is fed with more water than flour and a stiff starter is fed with more flour than water.
Happy Baking!
Cathy