Walk-Up Window · New Orleans Classic

New Orleans Beignets

Photo: Julian Rösner / Unsplash · Unsplash License

Café du Monde has sold beignets and chicory coffee from the French Market since 1862; the chicory is a New Orleans habit from times when coffee was scarce and roasted chicory root stretched it.

Squares of yeasted dough are dropped into hot oil until they puff into golden pillows, then buried under a snowdrift of powdered sugar and handed over three to an order, still hot. New Orleans' French Market stalls and walk-up counters serve them all day and night alongside chicory coffee.

Why it's made this way: The recipe came over with French colonists and Acadian refugees in the 18th century; New Orleans held onto it as a daily habit long after beignets faded elsewhere, turning a simple fried dough into the city's signature street pastry.