It’s Mardi Gras or ‘Fat Tuesday’, a day of indulgence celebrated in France. Mardi Gras means it’s time for beignets (say ‘banyeh’), the French pillow-y, soft fried doughnuts dusted in powdered sugar!
Though I am living in Finland, I don’t forget my French roots and I celebrate Mardi Gras every year, for the joy of my family. I remember what a feast it was as child, when that big pile of squarish beignets landed on the table, all dusted with white sugar!
I adapted my mom’s recipe to make it gluten free. She always adds lemon or orange zest in the dough, which gives her beignets that very unique flavor I love. It took me a few tries before finding the right proportions of ingredients to make the beignets taste just like in my childhood. Now they do, hourrah!
Though I am not much into fried food nowadays, there is no real beignets without deep frying. I choose grapeseed oil for high-temperature cooking because of its high smoke point. It is a bit pricey, but I so rarely fry food that I prefer using the healthiest possible oil when I do so. If you own a thermometer, the optimal t temperature range for frying is around 170 degrees. Otherwise just drop a beignet in the oil: if it floats to the surface, surrounded with bubbles, and turns gold within few seconds, your oil is ready.
I used agave syrup in the dough, and a mix of powdered sugar and xylitol to coat my beignets. I posted some time ago instruction how to make your own powdered sugar, so you can easily replace regular confectioner’s sugar with unrefined alternatives (coconut sugar, xylitol, muscovado…).
Joyeux carnaval et bon Mardi-Gras!
- 100 g rice flour
- 50 g organic brown rice flour
- 75 g potato flour
- 25 g tapioca starch
- 5 g psyllium powder
- Pinch of salt
- 5 g dry baker's yeast
- 60 ml rice milk
- 2 eggs
- 40 g agave syrup
- 25 g margarine
- 1 l grapeseed oil
- Zest of one lemon
- Powdered sugar/xylitol (or other unrefined sugar for coating)
- In a bowl stir together the yeast with lukewarm rice milk (about 38 degrees). Leave the yeast to proof about 10 minutes.
- In a large mixing bowl or in the bowl of your stand mixer, combine all the flours, salt and psyllium powder together. Make a well in the center.
- Pour in the yeast mixture, eggs, agave syrup and melted margarine. Mix with the flat beater in the stand mixer until well-combined or with a regular hand-held mixer.
- Once the dough is smooth, cover the bowl with a clean dish towel and let it rise in a warm place, for about one hour.
- Roll the dough on top of floured parchment paper, about ½cm thick. Cut into small rectangles or diamonds.
- In a skillet, heat oil (about 160-170 degrees).
- Fry the beignets for a few seconds on each side, until they have risen to the surface of the oil and are golden brown.
- Drain on paper towels. Wait a few minutes for the beignets to cool down and roll in sugar.
- 100 g farine de riz
- 50 g farine de riz brun
- 75 g fécule de pomme de terre
- 25 g fécule de tapioca
- 5 g psyllium en poudre
- Pincée de sel
- 5 g de levure de boulanger sèche (ou 12 g de levure fraîche)
- 60 ml de lait végétal
- 2 oeufs
- 40 g sirop d'agave
- 25 g margarine
- Zeste d'un citron
- 1 l d'huile à friture (huile de colza ou de pépins de raisin)
- Mélange sucre glace et sucre en poudre (j'utilise du xylitol pour le sucre en poudre)
- Dans un bol mélanger la levure et le lait végétal tiède. Laisser activer environ 10 minutes (ou simplement mélanger la levure fraîche avec le lait).
- Puis ajouter au mélange deux oeufs légèrement battus, le sirop d'agave et la margarine fondue.
- Dans un large récipient mélanger les farines, fécules, psyllium et le sel. Faire un puit au centre
- Verser le mélange d'ingrédients humides et mélanger au batteur jusqu'à obtenir une pâte homogène.
- Former une boule et laisser reposer 1h.
- Etaler la pâte sur une épaisseur de 5 mm. Découper en petits rectangles ou losanges.
- Dans une casserole faire chauffer l'huile de friture. (environ 160-170 degrés)
- Plonger les beignets par petites quantités et laisser frire quelques secondes de chaque côté, jusqu'à ce qu'ils soient bien dorés.
- Egoutter les beignets sur du papier absorbant puis les rouler dans le mélange sucre-sucre glace. Bonne dégustation!
Pls suggest option for agave syrup
Instead of agave syrup you could use honey, not too strong flavored though!
I substituted a bit of sorgham flour (1/3 cup or so) for white rice, used regular milk and honey and these were wonderful. My husband said he cant tell they are gluten free.
Love love love. Im going to go sneak another…