Why are my beignets hollow? Can anyone explain what's going wrong with my beignets? The first time I made them they were perfect. Since then they've come out completely hollow. Like just a shell with nothing at all inside. As far as I know I'm doing everything the same, and I'm using the same recipe as it's written. I switched brands of yeast after the first hollow batch happened, then the next two batches did the same. What causes this? This is the recipe I'm using(which worked great the first time) https://addapinch.com/beignets-recipe/
I had the same problem too, and thought that I was going crazy because I’ve tried so many different recipes and always end up with hollow beignets!   

What I eventually found out was that when I fried my dough in lower heat, the longer time allowed the dough to expand more, which resulted in bigger, puffy, hollow beignets.  

When you cook them in medium heat, the quicker frying time allows the heat to expand just the outside and a little bit in the center- this is what makes it less hollow and more pillowy.