There is nothing quite like a Mickey Mouse-shaped snack when you are visiting a Disney theme park. I’m not sure what it is about adding a pair of Mickey ears, but this simple adjustment most definitely turns everyday food into something extraordinary! We have had our fair share of Mickey soft pretzels, ice cream bars, cupcakes, and waffles, but until recently we had never had Mickey Mouse beignets. Boy oh boy, were we missing out! All it took was one bite and we all agreed that these are a must-do on every Disney vacation from now on. Hailing from New Orleans, Louisiana, these deep-fried pastries are made to order, and served hot and generously smothered in powdered sugar. They are golden and perfectly crisp on the outside, with a soft and pillowy texture on the inside. In a word, perfection.
For Christmas, my brother-in-law gave me an amazing new treasure to add to my collection of books – The Unofficial Disney Parks Cookbook. This self-proclaimed “Guide to the Happiest Kitchen on Earth” is chock full of recipes for fan-favorite dishes, snacks, desserts, and drinks found at the Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resorts. With the taste of our first-ever Mickey beignets still fresh in our minds, his wonderful gift could not have come at a better time. The first recipe I checked for was beignets and, lo and behold, chapter 3 delivered! So we recently set aside a day to recreate these little beauties in our kitchen, and I am thrilled to report that our culinary adventure was a success AND that the end result tasted just as good as we remembered.
Here is a glimpse at our first attempt making Mickey Mouse beignets. We began by making a sweetened yeast dough. First, we proofed some yeast in a mixture of hot water and sugar. We set this aside until the yeast became foamy, and In the meantime combined eggs, salt, and evaporated milk using a stand mixer. Once the yeast mixture had bubbled we added it in, along with flour and shortening.
Once all of the flour was added, we switched out the beater attachments to dough hook attachments. We turned the mixer onto the “Knead” setting and continued mixing until the dough was smooth and pulled away from the bowl. Afterward, we moved the dough to another lightly greased bowl and covered it with plastic wrap. With the dough made, the first step in our quest to make beignets was complete and we had earned ourselves a break! It was time to step away from the kitchen to let the dough rise.
After a few hours, the dough had doubled in size and, at long last, we were closer than ever to making our Mickeys!
Here is where the real fun began! We turned the dough onto a liberally floured countertop, pulled up our sleeves, and got to work rolling out the dough into a large rectangle. Using a Mickey Mouse cookie cutter, we cut the dough into Mickey shapes.
And now came the most daunting part, at least for me – frying the Mickeys. I’ve never fried anything at home so I was a bit nervous, but the process was surprisingly easy. We filled a large pot with vegetable oil and heated the oil until it was about 350 degrees. I then carefully placed four Mickeys into the hot oil and fried them for a couple of minutes on each side. They slowly puffed up and turned a nice, golden brown while they cooked. It was so much fun to watch!
Using a slotted spatula, I carefully removed the Mickeys from the oil and transferred them to plates lined with paper towels. After they had cooled for a few minutes the kids dusted them with powdered sugar, and I got back to work frying the rest of our dough Mickeys.
When all of the beignets were finished we sprinkled them all with a fresh round of powdered sugar (you definitely can’t go wrong with an extra coating) and then settled in to finally sample the fruits of our labor. They taste best when they’ve been freshly fried and still warm, so we didn’t want to waste a minute. They were everything we hoped for and remembered, and more!
If you’d like to make a batch of your own Mickey Mouse beignets, below is the full recipe with step-by-step instructions. Enjoy!
BEIGNETS
Beignets got their Disney fame from the animated motion picture The Princess and the Frog. Tiana was hired by her debutant friend, Charlotte La Bouff, to make huge amounts of “man fetchin’ beignets” for her Mardi Gras party. Now you can fetch whomever you want when you make these at home!
- 1 ½ cups warm water (110°F)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 (¼-ounce) packet active dry yeast
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 7 cups bread flour, divided
- ¼ cup shortening
- 4 cups vegetable oil for frying
- 3 cups confectioners’ sugar
- In a small bowl, stir water together with sugar and yeast. Let sit 10 minutes.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add eggs. Using the whisk attachment, beat eggs 1 minute. Add salt and evaporated milk. Add yeast mixture and combine.
- Add 3 cups flour while continuing to mix. Add shortening until combined. Add remaining flour until thoroughly combined.
- Switch to dough hook attachment and knead until dough comes together, about 5 minutes.
- Grease a separate large bowl with nonstick cooking spray. Transfer dough to greased bowl. Place plastic wrap greased with cooking spray over top of bowl and let rise 3 hours at room temperature.
- In a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, add vegetable oil. It should measure to a depth of about 2″. Heat until oil reaches 350°F. Line a large plate with paper towels and set aside.
- Flour a flat surface and roll dough out to ¼” thickness. Cut into Mickey shapes (or shape into Mickey face by hand).
- Carefully slide two or three dough Mickeys into the hot oil and fry about 1 minute on each side, until golden brown. Transfer to lined plate. Repeat with remaining dough.
- Allow fried Beignets to drain 30 seconds, then pile high with confectioners’ sugar.
