My students made these lovely little New Orleans style doughnuts a little late for Mardi Gras but we loved them anyway! The class did them over two days but you can do it all in one if you have the time.
Yield: 10 - 2 inch squares
Ingredients
2 tablespoons warm water (105F)
1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 teaspoon vegetable shortening
1 tablespoon sugar (plus a pinch for yeast proofing)
3 tablespoons whole milk (plus a little extra if necessary)
1 large egg white
3 tablespoons boiling water
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (plus extra for rolling)
2 cups neutral oil for frying (I use canola) Or you can use a deep fryer
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 Tbsp shortening
Directions
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In the same bowl you heated the water to 105F in, add the yeast and a pinch of sugar. Stir to dissolve. Let it sit and confirm the yeast is active---it will foam. If it does not foam, throw it out and start over.
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Meanwhile, combine the shortening, sugar, milk, and egg white in a small cup. Whisk together well, then add the boiling water. Test the temperature of this mixture, and when it's between 105-110F, add it to the foamy yeast mixture. Stir well.
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Add the flour to the bowl, and stir gently to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 1 hour. You can make the dough ahead of time up to this point. I have kept dough for 3 days in the fridge before frying, and it's fine.
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Heat the oil in a deep pot to 360F.
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Meanwhile, divide the dough in half, and roll it out on a floured counter into a square about 6" wide. Use a pizza wheel to cut it into 5 or 6 squares. (see photo above for reference)
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When the oil is at 360F, drop in 3 square of dough. Do not walk away. The first side fries for 1-2 minutes. When golden brown on one side, flip the squares using a fork and continue to fry. When that side is golden brown (about 1 minute more), remove from the oil onto a cooling rack lined with paper towels.
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Roll out the other half of the dough, cut into squares, and fry all the squares.
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After cooling for about 5 minutes, dunk the beignets into the powdered sugar.
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Meanwhile in a liquid measureing cup combine 1 Tbsp shortening and chocolate chips. Microwave for 30 seconds, take out and stir and repeat until smooth. Place the melted chocolate in a piping bag with a small circle tip.
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Once the beignets are cool enough to hold poke a small hole with a paring knife and put the piping tip in and squeeze a bit of chocolate in to fill the beignet.
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Serve with all the extra powdered sugar piled on top.
