How To Turn Store-Bought Pizza Dough Into The Fluffiest Beignets

Donuts may be the one of the most iconic sweet treats, but that's only after being glazed or rolled in sugar. Before that, they're simply fried yeast dough. Consequently, you can use any number of store-bought doughs that might otherwise be for savory baked goods. While we've already demonstrated how store-bought crescent rolls make an easy alternative to scratch-made beignet dough, store-bought pizza dough is an equally fluffy and delicious option to try.

Store-bought pizza dough will save you dough resting time and quickly inflate into an airy and light beignet in frying oil. To create beignets out of pizza dough, form the premade-dough into a ball and stretch it into a half-inch thick square or rectangle. Use a knife or pizza cutter to divide the dough into 9-12 squares while you heat your frying oil to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Fry the dough squares in batches of three for two minutes per side. You can use a skewer or slotted spoon to flip them, fish them out, and transfer them to a paper-lined plate to absorb excess oil.

If you want to avoid the hassle and mess of frying, you can also add the pizza dough squares to an air fryer for five minutes at 370 degrees Fahrenheit. Then, they will need a brush of butter or coconut oil post-fry for the powdered sugar to adhere to them.

Beignets are perfect in their simplicity, needing nothing more than a dusting of powdered sugar. There's nothing wrong with sticking with the New Orleans-style tradition and showering your plated, warm beignets with powdered sugar. Any excess sugar that falls from the beignets onto your plate will be a makeshift dipping sauce or sweetener to pour into your cafe au lait.

If you'd like to break with tradition, a hot beignet is the ultimate blank slate for your favorite flavored sugars, glazes, and dipping sauces. You can toss beignets in a mix of sugar and cinnamon for a spicy, sweet crunch. Serve them with hot chocolate or chocolate dipping sauce for a twist on churros. And sugar and pumpkin spice blend would make for a fall-inspired beignet to serve with salted caramel sauce.

For a sophisticated and vibrant coating, blend lemon and orange zest into the sugar. You could also make a two-ingredient lemon glaze out of lemon juice and the powdered sugar you'd otherwise pour over traditional beignets. You could also spoon your favorite fruit compote or preserves over beignets. And if you're a fan of peanut butter and jelly, you can spoon equal drizzles of raspberry preserves and peanut butter glaze over the top.