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 half raw cane sugar and half stevia. Their baking blend makes an amazing powdered sugar too! If you aren’t looking to cut down on sugar, you can use regular powdered sugar in place of the powdered baking blend. —KH
MAKES 24 BEIGNETS
POWDERED BAKING BLEND
1 cup (98 g) Whole Earth Sweetener Baking Blend
1 tsp organic cornstarch
PROOFING
1 cup (240 ml) full-fat coconut milk from a can
3 tbsp (36 g) powdered baking blend (sugar)
1½ tsp (4 g) active baking yeast
DOUGH
2 tbsp (30 ml) melted coconut oil
2 tbsp (30 ml) aquafaba (the drained water from a can of chickpeas)
2 tsp (10 ml) vanilla extract
3 cups (360 g) unbleached white flour (with a little extra to sprinkle on the cutting board for later)
FOR THE BAKING BLEND
Add the Whole Earth Baking Blend and cornstarch 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.
FOR PROOFING
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 it sit for 10 minutes, until the yeast begins to foam.
FOR THE DOUGH
Using the paddle attachment, mix in the coconut oil, aquafaba and vanilla. Then add the flour a cup (125 g) at a time.
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.)
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.
Place the dough in a mixing bowl, cover with a clean dish towel and let it rise for 1 hour.
Sprinkle some flour over a large cutting board and pat out the dough into a rectangle that’s about ⅓ inch (8 mm) thick. Cut the dough into 24 squares and let them proof for 30 minutes before you cook them.
FOR COOKING IN YOUR AIR FRYER
Preheat your air fryer to 390°F (199°C). Depending on the size of your air fryer, you can put 3 to 6 beignets in at a time.
Cook for 3 minutes on one side. Flip them, and 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.
Sprinkle liberally with the powdered baking blend you made in the beginning and enjoy!
Continue cooking in batches until they are all cooked.
FOR COOKING IN THE OVEN
Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Place the beignets on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Sprinkle liberally with the powdered baking blend.
*SEE PHOTO INSERT