Walk-Up Window · New Orleans Classic

New Orleans Beignets

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Café du Monde has served only two things — beignets and chicory coffee — from the same French Market spot since 1862, and it's open 24 hours a day, nearly every day of the year.

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.