Air Fried Vegan Beignets with an Oven Option

Did you know that you can make sweet treats in your Air Fryer?  My Air Fried Vegan Beignets are full of richness from the full-fat coconut milk. Don’t have an air fryer? Don’t worry, you can make them in your oven too.

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What Are Beignets?

These air fried vegan beignets are just rectangle yeast donuts that are usually drowning in powdered sugar. At Cafe du Monde in New Orleans, you’ll find them with up to an inch of powdered sugar!

Are Beignets Vegan?

Usually beignets are not vegan because they contain eggs and dairy. The famous Cafe du Monde beignets are NOT vegan.

You can snag some vegan and gluten-free beignets if you go to Disney World at the Port Orleans at the Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory. You will need to ask for the vegan ones and they will send the chef to chat with you.

But if you make my easy beignet recipe you’ll have plenty of vegan beignets to eat. They are a great treat to celebrate Mardi Gras.

Can You Make Beignets in the Air Fryer?

You can make lots of things in your air fryer and beignets are one of them. When you’re air frying instead of deep frying in oil batter often need to be a little thicker.

It takes longer for the air fryer beignets to firm up in a convection oven or air fryer while it gets solid the minute it hits the oil.

Can You Bake Beignets in the Oven Instead of Frying Them?

That’s the other option in this recipe – to cook the beignets right in your oven. Baked beignets are still healthier than deep fried ones even if they are more of a once in awhile treat.

How to Make Your Own Powdered Sugar 

If you are out of powdered sugar but still have some granulated sugar or evaporated cane juice and a little organic cornstarch you can make your own.

Add about 1 cup sugar plus 1 tablespoon corn starch and blend until powdery. Wait a few minutes before you open the lid or you’ll end up breathing some of it in.

Store in an airtight container. 

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Whole Earth Sweetener Co. 

How to Make the Powdered Sugar Stevia Blend I Used

I made my powdered sugar is with Whole Earth Sweetener Baking Blend. It’s made up of just two ingredients: Raw Cane Sugar and Organic Stevia Leaf Extract. It’s Whole Earth Sweetener Co, gluten-free, and contains zero preservatives, so you know you’re working with a great product.

I took a cup of the baking blend pictured above and mixed with a small amount of organic cornstarch. Then I blended to make the powdered delight you see at the bottom of the photo.

The best part is that Whole Earth Sweetener’s Baking Blend has the round mouth-feel that you get from traditional powdered sugar with 1/2 the calories and sugar!

Use the leftover powdered baking blend to make a quick and easy glaze: just add a little non-dairy milk or extract to a small bowl of this powdered baking blend and make icing for cinnamon rolls, cookies, and even cupcakes!

You’ll find yourself using it all the time once you have it in your pantry.

How to Make Air Fried Vegan Beignets From Scratch

The dough will be softer than a normal bread dough and will be a little shiny from the coconut milk and oil. While it is softer, it should still not stick to your hands very much.

Once the dough has risen, you’ll pat, press, and pull it into a rectangle shape about 1/2 inch thick. Then, cut into 24 rectangles as evenly as you can. Remember that homemade treats are not about perfection.

How to Store Leftover Beignets

Air fried vegan beignets are best eaten fresh out of the air fryer, but you could under cook them and finish them off right before serving.

Any leftover beignets that you’ve finished cooking will store for a day or 2 covered on your counter. If you want to purposefully save some for another day, cook them halfway, then freeze. 

How to Reheat Beignets

If you know ahead of time, you will have undercooked the vegan beignets so they won’t overcook when you put them back in your air fyer or oven.

If you freeze your leftover dough, just thaw the night before and cook the rest of the way in your air fryer before serving.

You can also freeze any left over cooked beignets, but I would only keep pre-cooked ones in the freezer for a week or two since they will dry out the longer you keep them there.

Do You Eat Beignets for Breakfast or Dessert?

Well, to me anytime is the perfect time for a beignet. Once you make a batch you may find yourself eating them all day long!

They are great with a Middle Eastern Iced Coffee or a hot coffee with Homemade Coconut Oat Vanilla Nut Vegan Coffee Creamer anytime of the day, but especially in the morning. 

Another my favorite air fryer breakfast is my Vegan Air Fryer Nutty French Toast. It’s covered with an oat and nut coating that comes together fast.

I like them for dessert topped with a scoop of vegan vanilla ice cream and drizzled with Blackberry Syrup, Vegan Butterscotch Syrup or Lavender Syrup. Yum!

If you need a faster air fryer dessert try this quick and easy Air Fryer Blueberry Apple Crumble. 

Air Fried Vegan Beignets with an Oven Option

Yield: 24 beignets

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 6 minutes

Additional Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours 6 minutes

These beignets have a pillowy texture and are rich from the coconut milk. These have half the sugar of regular beignets because we're using Whole Earth Sweetener Baking Blend that's ½ raw cane sugar and ½ stevia. Their baking blend makes an amazing powdered sugar too!

Print

Ingredients

For the powdered baking blend:

• 1 cup Whole Earth Sweetener Baking Blend
• 1 teaspoon organic corn starch

For the proofing:

• 1 cup full-fat coconut milk from a can
• 3 tablespoons powdered baking blend
• 1 1/2 teaspoons active baking yeast

For the dough:

• 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons aquafaba, the drained water from a can of chickpeas
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 cups unbleached white flour, with a little extra to sprinkle on the cutting board for later

Instructions

1. Add the Whole Earth Baking Blend and corn starch to your blender and blend until powdery smooth. The cornstarch will keep it from clumping so you can store it if you don't use it all in the recipe. (Or you can substitute regular powdered sugar later in the recipe.)
2. Heat the coconut milk until it's warm but cool enough that you can stick your finger in it without burning yourself. If it's too hot, you will kill the yeast. Add it to your mixer with the sugar and yeast. Let sit 10 minutes, until the yeast begins to foam.
3. Using the paddle attachment, mix in the coconut oil, aquafaba, and vanilla. Then add the flour a cup at a time.
4. Once the flour is mixing in and the dough is coming away from the sides of the mixer, change to your dough hook if you have one. (If you don't, keep using the paddle.)
5. Knead the dough in your mixer for about 3 minutes. The dough will be wetter than if you were making a loaf of bread, but you should be able to scrape out the dough and form a ball without it staying on your hands.
6. Place dough in a mixing bowl and cover with a clean dish towel and let rise for 1 hour.
7. Sprinkle some flour over a large cutting board and pat out the dough into a rectangle that's about ⅓ inch thick. Cut into 24 squares and let proof for 30 minutes before you cook them.
8. Preheat your air fryer to 390 degrees. Depending on the size of your air fryer you can put 3 to 6 beignets in at a time.
9. Cook for 3 minutes on one side. Flip them, then cook another 2 minutes. Since air fryers vary, you may need to cook yours another minute or two for them to get golden brown.
10. Sprinkle liberally with the powdered baking blend you made in the beginning and enjoy!
11. Continue cooking in batches until they are all cooked.
12. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place the beignets on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
13. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle liberally with the powdered baking blend you made in the beginning and enjoy!

Notes

If you don't eat stevia, go ahead and substitute organic powdered sugar in the recipe.

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Nutrition Information

Yield 24 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 102 Total Fat 3g Saturated Fat 3g Trans Fat 0g Unsaturated Fat 0g Cholesterol 0mg Sodium 2mg Carbohydrates 15g Fiber 1g Sugar 1g Protein 3g

Nutrition information is provided from nutritionix.com as a close estimate. If you have specific health issues please put the recipe information, including the exact ingredients you use, into the nutritional calculator your Dr. recommends.

Need help picking out your first Air Fryer or looking for some accessories? Be sure to check out my article on My Favorite Air Fryers and Accessories.

More Vegan Air Fryer Recipes To Try

• Spiralized Vegan Latkes with Red Cabbage and Apple
• Vegan Air Fryer Southern Fried “Chicken” Soy Curls
• Air Fryer Sesame, Ginger and Garlic Edamame