Candy Cane Beignets

Hello, hello! My name is Sarah McKenna, and I blog over at Bombshell Bling. I blog about whatever my heart desires, from jewelry making to recipes to children’s birthday parties to home decor and more! You can also find me on social media, especially Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook. I am thrilled to be here this morning guest posting! Today I am excited to share a fun, unique recipe with you that also just so happens to be a Disneyland recipe copycat! Woohoo, right? Who doesn’t love the food at Disneyland?!

My husband’s family has made New Orleans Beignets for years for our church’s annual General Conference twice a year. They are amazing, and I look forward to them each and every time! Well, I saw something on another blogger’s Instagram feed about candy cane beignets that are only there during the Christmas holiday season and I freaked out thinking how tasty that must be, so my hubby and I figured out how they did them, and now I have that recipe here for you today.

The secret to candy cane beignets is the topping. It is classic New Orleans Beignets, but with a powdered sugar and candy cane topping. To make the topping, you simply crush candy canes into small pieces and bits and mix those pieces together with powdered sugar. I simply put unwrapped candy canes into a ziploc bag and pounded the bag against the counter a few times. True story. Haha.

Here is the full recipe. ENJOY!

Candy Cane Beignets Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup milk
2 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
3 cups flour
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
1 package yeast
powdered sugar
several candy canes, crushed into extremely small pieces

Directions:

In a small bowl, mix together the flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt.
Heat milk to scalding. (Steaming but not boiling.)
Place the butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl. Pour the scalding milk over the top of the butter and sugar.
Stir the milk so that the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. ALLOW THE MIXTURE TO COOL TO LUKEWARM. (You don’t want to kill the yeast!)
Add the yeast and stir it in.
Add the egg and HALF of the dry ingredients to the bowl and beat well.
Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix well.
Place the dough on a floured counter and knead about 2-3 minutes, or until it is soft and pliable.
Place your kneaded dough into a large greased bowl. Cover and let rise for about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
Place the dough onto a floured counter and flour a rolling pin. Roll the dough out to about ¼ inch thick.
Cut the dough into triangles or squares.
Place the dough pieces on a greased cookie sheet and cover with greased (use PAM) cellophane. Allow them to rise for 30 minutes – 1 hour, or until they have almost doubled in size.
Heat canola oil to 385 degrees.
Scoop the dough into the oil using a slotted spoon or fry basket.
Fry for 1-2 minutes and then flip the dough using your slotted spoon or fry basket.
Fry the second side for 1-2 more minutes. Your beignets should now be golden brown on both sides.
Remove the beignets and place them on a paper towel to cool a bit.
Crush the candy canes into tiny pieces. Several small chunks and some almost crushed to powder works well. Simply place unwrapped candy canes in a ziploc bag, zip it tight, and bang the candy canes with a spoon or on the counter until they are broken enough.
Dump the crushed candy cane pieces into a small bowl of powdered sugar and stir together well.
Once cooled enough to prevent burning your mouth, dump powdered sugar and candy cane mixture over the top of the beignets and ENJOY!