Combine milk, ¼ cup sugar, vegetable oil, and salt in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat until small bubbles form around the edges of the pan. Remove from heat.

While the milk mixture is heating, combine yeast and 1 tbsp. sugar with warm water. Allow to stand 10 minutes or until it’s very bubbly.

Combine heated milk and 2 cups flour in the bowl of a stand mixture. Mix, scraping the bowl occasionally, enough flour to make a soft dough that sticks slightly to your finger.

At this point, you can either place the dough in a bowl sprayed with nonstick cooking spray and cover with a piece of sprayed plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough up to 1 day, or you can roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface. When ready to use, roll it into a large rectangle about ¼ inches thick. Using a pizza wheel, cut the dough into about 3x4 inch rectangles. Slightly separate the dough pieces and cover with a clean cloth. Allow to rise 30 minutes.

When dough has about 15 minutes left to go, heat 2-3 inches peanut oil in a large skillet or saucepan to 324 F (use a candy thermometer). When oil is heated, fry dough pieces for about 1 ½ to 2 minutes per side or until they are golden. Carefully remove beignets from oil and allow to drain on a paper towel-lined baking sheet.

Place some powdered sugar in a fine-mesh strainer and sprinkle powdered sugar generously over the beignets. Serve immediately.