A soft, square pastry puff fried and covered with powdered sugar, popular in French cuisine and New Orleans.
From French 'beignet', from Old French 'bugne', possibly from a Germanic root meaning 'to swell.' The pastry tradition came to New Orleans through French colonial influence in the 18th century.
Beignets are literally French-speaking America's favorite breakfast—Café Du Monde in New Orleans has been serving them since 1862, and the powdered sugar gets absolutely everywhere, which is half the charm.
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