Easy Ricotta Beignets | Happy Baking with Erin Jeanne McDowell

Erin is whipping up a batch of light, fluffy ricotta beignets. These make an awesome dessert, but they’re equally as fun for breakfast or brunch. This recipe requires deep frying, but don’t fear! We’ll walk you through how to set up your fry station and get the oil temperature just right with or without a thermometer! #happybaking

Find the recipe in the description below or in Erin’s first book, The Fearless Baker: https://www.erinjeannemcdowell.com/the-fearless-baker

RICOTTA BEIGNETS RECIPE
Makes about 50 bite size beignets (doughnut hole size)

INGREDIENTS
489 g / 2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese, at room temperature
170 g / 3 large eggs, at room temperature
27 g / 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
66 g / ⅓ cup granulated sugar
½ vanilla bean, scraped or 1 teaspoon (5 g) vanilla bean paste
6 g / 1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest
210 g / 1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
12 g / 1 tablespoon baking powder
1 g / ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Vegetable oil, as needed for frying
Powdered sugar, as needed for finishing

PROCESS
1. Cover a baking sheet with a few layers of paper towels as a landing pad for the beignets when they come out of the fryer.

2. In a large bowl, whisk the ricotta to loosen it slightly. Add the eggs and egg yolk and whisk well to combine. Add the sugar, vanilla bean seeds or paste, and orange zest and whisk until well combined. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt, and whisk into the batter until it is uniformly combined. The batter can be used immediately, or covered and refrigerated overnight.

3. In a medium pot, heat 2-3 inches of oil over medium heat. You can either attach a deep fry/candy thermometer to the pot and heat it until it reads around 325°F/163°C – or you can carefully check the temperature with an instant-read thermometer. If you don’t have a thermometer, you can use a small amount of batter to test the oil’s temperature – it should immediately sizzle and rise to the surface, then slowly begin to brown. (If it browns immediately, let the oil cool off before starting. If the batter doesn’t sizzle, keep heating and re-test with a new piece of batter.)

4. When the oil it hot, work in batches to drop the beignets into the pot. Drop tablespoons of dough into the hot oil (I use a small (#60) cookie scoop, but you can just use two spoons to drop the batter in). Fry the beignets, turning once or twice, until they begin to become golden brown on all sides, 3-4 minutes.

5. Use a slotted spoon or spider to lift the beignets out of the oil, tap a few times to drain well, then transfer to the prepared baking sheet to drain.

6. While they are still warm, sift powdered sugar generously over the beignets (or, you can toss them in the sugar to coat). Serve immediately, preferably warm.

CHAPTERS
Beignet story: 00:00
Intro: 00:30
Banging out the batter: 01:18
Fry station: 02:24
What’s your temp: 04:35
Fry fry fry fry fry fry: 05:56
Outro: 07:14

ERIN’S BOOKS
https://www.amazon.com/shop/influencer-165a6266/list/1LCO70ZLA3JEO?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_aipsflist_aipsfinfluencer-165a6266_ABBJH51C7Q5R62Z122JK

ERIN’S BAKING ESSENTIALS
https://www.amazon.com/shop/influencer-165a6266/list/19369RQ1XEA6J?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_aipsflist_aipsfinfluencer-165a6266_NR8KCPDKB5N9XX3MH741

As an Amazon Affiliate I earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

FOLLOW ERIN
Website: https://www.erinjeannemcdowell.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emcdowell/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@erinjeannemcdowell
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/erinjmcdowell

VIDEO:
Producer/Director: Gabriella Mangino
DP: Faki Malik
Editor: Josh Dion
Graphic Design: Tart NYC
Motion: Joe Ruffa

So this one time I made these in a snowstorm. So as soon as they were done, I took them on like a platter outside and I literally just started skipping down the streets and all the people who are shoveling and like scraping ice off their cars.

I was like, a beignet for you. Would you like a beignet? And they were, like, literally steaming and warm and about half the people thought I was crazy. But the half that took a bite were like v grateful. [music] Hello and welcome to this episode of Happy Baking.

I’m going to show you a step by step tutorial for a very delicious recipe that is so easy to make but really feels incredibly special to serve and eat. My Ricotta Beignets. This recipe comes together so quickly and it’s one of my favorite things

To make in the colder months when I want a sweet treat. These make an awesome dessert, but they’re equally as fun for breakfast or brunch. The scariest part of making something like this for most people is the frying.

So I’m going to spend a little extra time on that show that you’re pep talked and ready to go. Because trust me, you’re going to want to make this recipe. This is one of my favorite recipes from my first book, The Fearless Baker. But you can also snag

The recipe in the video description below if you want to bake along with me, let’s get baking. [music] Okay. Let’s talk about making the batter. In fact, the only thing easier than making this batter is eating the finished beignets because they are so, so delicious.

And best of all, this recipe comes together so fast. You can see all the ingredients on the screen right now. But don’t forget, they’re also in the video description below. If you need them. First, whisk the ricotta to loosen it slightly

And then we’re going to add the eggs and the egg yolk to it. Next, we’re going to add the sugar, vanilla bean seeds, or you can use vanilla bean paste and the orange zest. And we’ll mix that all until it’s well combined. Finally, we’ll add the dry ingredients: the flour, baking powder

And fine sea salt and mix those until it’s all well combined. A good thing to note is that this batter can actually be covered and refrigerated up to 12 hours before you want to make it. So you can always get this ready the night before

If you’re wanting to make it for breakfast or brunch the next day. It’ll keep covered for up to 12 hours. [music] One of the most important parts of frying is preparing your frying station. First thing you’re going to want to do is set up a place for the beans to drain.

I’ve got here a wire rack set on several layers of absorbent paper towels on a sheet tray. That way, any excess oil can drip down into those paper towels. But also can drip through the wire rack grates. You’ll also need something to drop the batter into the oil.

I use a little cookie scoop like this. This is a one tablespoon size scoop, but you can also just use two spoons to drop the batter in. You’ll also need a slotted spoon or spider to help remove the beignets from the oil. One thing that I know

Really scares people about frying is that you need a large amount of oil and I sort of want to dispel that myth a little bit because you really just need to consider what you’re frying and that’ll help you determine how much oil you need and also what size of pot to use.

There’s a big difference between different types of frying techniques. Deep frying where the item is fully submerged in oil versus something like shallow frying, where the item is only partially submerged in oil or pan frying, which uses the least amount of all three.

This recipe uses deep frying, but the beignets themselves are quite small, which means we can use a smaller pot and still fry many at the same time. And a smaller pot will mean a lot less oil even when deep frying. But remember, a larger pot will mean you’ll be able to cook

More bean at once, so it will take less time. In total, a smaller pot means we’re going to have to work in batches to get them all fried and done. For this recipe, I’m using a pretty standard medium pot that I use all the time in my kitchen for everything from blanching vegetables

To cooking pasta. And it’s got about two inches of a nice neutral oil like vegetable safflower or peanut in it. For this recipe, we want the oil to be around 325° degrees Fahrenheit or 160° degrees Celsius. And it’s always a good idea to heat it a little hotter than you need to start,

Because when we add the batter to the oil, it’s going to help bring the temperature back down. So heat it 5 to 10 degrees warmer than that, 325°F/160°C to start. [music] Getting the temperature right is one of the main keys to frying.

And there’s definitely some equipment that can help you to get it just right. But don’t worry I’ve got you covered. Even if you don’t own a thermometer. If you have one, you can attach a deep fry thermometer or candy thermometer to the side of your pot. This is one of the easiest

And safest ways to monitor the temperature while you’re frying. If you don’t have a deep fry or candy thermometer, a probe thermometer also works really well for this. If you’ve got a standard instant read thermometer, you can still use it.

But please be careful because it will involve holding it over that hot oil. If the probe bends, you can always bend it slightly to give you a little bit more leeway and keep it extra safe. If you don’t have any kind of thermometer, do not worry.

You can actually just test the oil using a small amount of the batter. This is actually how my grandma first taught me how to fry chicken. She would just always test the batter first with a small piece of breading, Carefully drop a small amount of batter into the oil.

It may sink a little at first, but it should fairly quickly begin to sizzle and rise to the top. Then it should slowly begin to brown. If it browns immediately and does this all way too fast, let the oil cool off a bit before you start frying your beignets.

If the batter doesn’t sizzle, turn the heat up a little bit and retest when it’s had some more time to warm up. [music] Let’s talk about frying these beautiful beignets When the oil is hot, work in batches to drop the beignets into the pot.

Drop a tablespoon size piece of dough into the oil. You can use a scoop or you can use two spoons. Be sure not to overcrowd the beignets, but you can make a nice even layer on the surface of the oil. Fry the beignets, turning them once or twice as they cook

Until they’re evenly golden brown about 3 to 4 minutes. Use a slotted spoon or spider to remove the beignets from the oil. Tap it on the edge of the pot a few times to help remove excess, then transfer the veneers to your prepared frying station to drain. While they’re still warm.

Sift powdered sugar over the beignets, generously. EXTREMELY GENEROUSLY. We really want a full beautiful blanket of powdered sugar over these and it sticks the best when they’re warm. [music] Thank you so much for joining me for this episode where I showed you an easy, impressive recipe: my ricotta beignets.

If you make this recipe, be sure to let me know in the comments. I always love to know what you’re baking and what you’re loving in your kitchens right now. And don’t forget to check out the entire book that this recipe is from the Fearless Baker available wherever books are sold.

Do me a favor and please be sure to like this video and click subscribe so you can receive alerts of all of our new episodes as they roll out. And until next time, wishing you lots of happy baking. The best part I get to eat it. Mmmm! This so fluffy! [giggles]

Can you grab this one here? And then have a bite and place it back? No, I would never do that. Okay, then don’t do it. [laughing]