Chocolate Filled Pate A Choux Beignets

I've never been to New Orleans so I've never had a genuine yeast beignet so I feel like I can't make them and share them because I haven't experienced the real deal. However, I have been to France and I've had a French beignet so I feel more comfortable sharing those and that's what I'm doing.

And, because when I was making these my sweet tooth was being extra vocal, I decided to fill them with a few chocolate chips. They turned out crisp, light, delicious, and gooey sweet which made them perfect.

By the way, these fried clouds have a few different names, like zeppole, fried dough, frittelle, puff puffs, the list goes on.

Ingredients [yields 1.5 dozen beignets]:
½ stick butter (¼ cup)
½ cup milk
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup flour
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
+ ¼ cup mini chocolate chips
oil for frying
+ confectioners sugar

Combine butter, milk, sugar, and salt in a saucepan and heat over medium until the mixture comes to a boil. Be careful since milk will easily boil over.

Add in the flour and stir vigorously to incorporate.

Once the flour has absorbed all the liquid and a dough forms, stir continuously over the heat for five minutes to cook out some moisture.

Let the dough cool for ten minutes.

Add in one egg and vanilla extract and beat into the dough. Once the first egg is incorporated, crack in the second egg and beat it in. The dough should be stiff and sticky.

Use a 1-1/2 tablespoon scoop (or whatever small scoop you like) to portion out the dough.

Drop the dough into 350F oil and fry until they poof up and turn golden brown.

To make the chocolate chip filled beignets, fill the scoop halfway, drop in some chips, and then smear on some more dough to enclose the chocolate chips in the batter.

Drain the fried beignets on a paper towel.

Plate these cuties up and then give them a good dusting of confectioners sugar.

They're gorgeous, right?

Bite into them to reveal a little chocolate surprise! The dough is crisp and light and buttery with a subtle sweetness. They're a festive, fun, and easy dessert. Plus, the dough can be made ahead of time and kept in the fridge so it's perfect for a dinner party and you can make them to order.

Here's the recipe page: