Baked Beignets with Cafe Au Lait Dipping Sauce! These delicious beignets are baked, not fried, but still have a soft, fluffy texture and great flavor! Served with a rich, coffee-infused chocolate dipping sauce, they make a perfect Mardi Gras treat!
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I have enjoyed this week of festive eating as much as the next girl, I’m not gonna lie. But the way I see it, we still have two more days to go until the end of Mardi Gras week and we’ve gotta pace ourselves. And by “we”, I mean “I”. {You might not have a pair of skinny jeans threatening you from your closet as I do. Lucky.}
Anyway, I love to feed my friends. I actually like cooking for others way more than I like making food for myself. {Which could be why, more often than not, I’m eating leftovers or throwing together random things when it’s time for a meal.}
When my girlfriends and I have “Girls Night”, I see it as a time to make all the things I don’t get to make at home on a daily basis. Like bite sized appetizers. And cute little finger foods. And desserts that include as many forms of chocolate as humanly possible. {Because the hubs doesn’t eat chocolate. At all. Weirdo.}
But I also know that these lovely ladies watch their girlish figures. And the last thing I want to do is sabotage all the hard work they do to keep looking svelte.
So, when I volunteered to bring dessert to our get together last night, I knew I wanted to find a recipe that was 1. New Orleans themed {to coordinate with the blog, of course}, 2. Figure friendlier than, say, Nutella Caramel Swirl Cheescake Bars, and 3. Worth the calories.
I’d say these Oven Baked Beignets fit the bill.
When I pulled these out of the oven yesterday and sacrificed one beignet for “quality control”, I was so pleasantly surprised with the results. They were warm and delicate little powdered sugar covered pillows of dough. And between the airy texture and the Cafe Au Lait dipping sauce, I didn’t miss the fact that they weren’t fried. At all.
Sure, they’re no Cafe du Monde beignet, I’m sure. But that just means you can eat a few more without the guilt {or the air travel, for that matter.}
Make these to share with friends, or to savor all by yourself.
Looking for more Mardi Gras-inspired recipes? Try my Mini King Cakes, Vegetarian Muffuletta Bagel Sandwich, Shrimp Fricasse, or One Pot Jambalaya!
Baked Beignets
