Sunday, April 5, 2020

Disneyland Beignets from Home!





To keep myself busy and to keep from feeling sad that we missed out on our big family Disneyland trip, I've been planning a "Disneyland at Home" day. I planned it in my head for weeks! It was keeping me going almost as much as a regular vacation countdown and prep would. Yesterday was finally the day! You may have seen some of the pics on our Facebook page. We did a lot of YouTube ridethroughs and wore our ears, but the best part was the food! Mickey pancakes for breakfast, Mickey ice cream bars and churros for a snack (Tio Pepe is the brand Disney uses, you can find it at Smart and Final!). But I was MOST looking forward to those amazing New Orleans Square beignets!

First of all, we used the official Cafe du Monde beignet mix. Cafe du Monde has been a New Orleans staple since 1862, so you know they're doing something right! You can even purchase the mix at Ralph Brennen's Jazz Kitchen in Downtown Disney (or Amazon while everything's closed!).

*Fun Fact!* If you like cooking shows, Jon Favreau did an episode of The Chef Show where they made this exact mix and it's totally worth checking out on Netflix.

The mix makes it very simple, ingredient wise. You just need 2 cups of mix (refrigerate the rest) and 7oz of water. Can't get easier! Aside from that's you'll need LOTS of flour, powdered sugar, oil for frying, and a Mickey cookie cutter.


I didn't actually have a Mickey cookie cutter! My mom has one and when I first got this mix (you know, before the pandemic) I just figured I'd borrow from her. So that left me with a bit of a problem. Luckily for me, I have a 3D printer and a husband who loves a project!


Before we got started, we put on a "New Orleans" mix on Spotify and it didn't disappoint!

All you need to do is mix the powder and water, roll to 1/8 inch thick, and fry at 370F. But we learned a few things along the way...


To start, the dough is sticky. Like crazy, stick to everything, so-much-stickier-than-you'd-expect sticky. So when you roll it out, use WAY more flour than you'd ever think you'd need. So much flour! Be SURE NOT TO ROLL TOO THIN. Ours were too thin and it made some of our beignets kind of flat (but still tasty!).



Because of the stickiness, we found it helpful to use a knife to help separate our Mickey from the rest of the dough. Also, a spatula might help you get it off of your work surface. Don't underestimate the stickiness.


When you're frying, keep basting the beignets with more oil so they puff up nicely and cook evenly. They only take a few minutes on each side, so keep an eye on them.

Cover them completely in powdered sugar and eat immediately. They're amazing!!!!


We took the leftover bits of dough that we couldn't quite get more Mickeys out of and made them into squares. This time we left the dough much thicker and they puffed up beautifully compared to our over-rolled ones. Live and learn! 


Easy peasy but pretty messy. Give it a try and tell us what you think!


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