Churro Ice Cream Cups

JUMP TO RECIPE COMMENTS

Churro Ice Cream Cups that are easy to make and fun to eat! They’re piped on cupcake tins for the perfect serving size and baked, not fried, so they’re a little better for you. They’re perfect for summer parties and everyone eats their cup so no dirty dishes. Total bonus!

A Churro Ice Cream Cup dusted with sugar is topped with two scoops of vanilla ice cream, served on a gray plate.

My family is crazy for churros which is probably why I have so many variations of them on my site, from air fryer churros and baked churros to the classic fried churros. They can finish an entire recipe of churros while they’re still warm. I should mention my family consists of myself, my husband, and our son. So we aren’t a large family by any means. This means you may want to double the recipe if you want some for yourself.

Ingredients Needed

A flat lay of baking ingredients for Churro Ice Cream Cups, including eggs, granulated sugar, brown sugar, water, vanilla extract, butter, cinnamon, and all-purpose flour—all clearly labeled.

See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for all ingredients and quantities.

butter – The recipe calls for unsalted butter, but salted butter can be used. I would leave out the salt that the recipe calls for when using salted butter.
light brown sugar – Packing the light brown sugar keeps the measure as precise as possible when using measuring spoons instead of weighing it out.
granulated sugar – also called white sugar. Make sure you are using a leveled tablespoon worth of sugar.
salt – This helps balance out the sweetness added to the choux dough.
vanilla extract – use your favorite store-bought or homemade vanilla extract.
flour – I used King Arthur all-purpose flour which has a higher protein content. You may need an additional 1 to 2 tablespoons of flour for the pastry if you’re using a different brand.
eggs – Use large eggs for this recipe. Using a different size egg can add just a little too much or too little liquid.
cinnamon – a much needed warm spice for these churro ice cream cups/bowls.
ice cream – homemade ice cream or store-bought ice cream will work. Use your favorite and one that will pair well with the cinnamon.

Substitutions and Variations

You can add different extracts to the choux pastry. Almond pastry would be delicious.
Use other warm spices to pair with the cinnamon or in place of the cinnamon such as cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and allspice.
You can substitute the brown sugar in this recipe for granulated sugar.

NOTE: This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations

5 Days of Favorite Classic Desserts

FREE EMAIL BONUS: Treat yourself with these delicious recipes

Five spiral-shaped pastries covered in cinnamon sugar rest on a round cooling rack, ready to be transformed into delicious Churro Ice Cream Cups. A navy blue napkin and two cinnamon sticks are placed nearby for added charm.

Equipment Needed

saucepan
wooden spoon
large disposable piping bag
4B or 1M piping tip
cupcake tin
cooking spray

How To Make Churro Ice Cream Cups

Follow this four-step process for perfect Churro Ice Cream Cups: melt butter in a bowl, mix dough, add an egg, and stir until smooth.

Step 1: First start by adding the water, butter, and both sugars into a medium saucepan. Place over medium heat and stir regularly until the butter and sugar is melted.

Step 2: Once the mixture comes up to a boil, remove it from the heat and add in the flour and vanilla extract. Stir until a smooth dough ball forms.

Step 3 & 4: Create a well in the middle of the dough and add your first egg. Work the egg in completely before adding the next egg. Repeat adding the next two eggs in one at a time and work it in until a soft pliable dough forms. It should still be firm enough to hold it’s shape. If it’s slightly too thin, add up to 2 tablespoons of additional flour and stir until combined.

Add the churro dough to a disposable piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1M or 4B piping tip. You can let the dough cool 5 to 10 minutes if it’s too hot to handle, but not longer otherwise the dough won’t pipe as smoothly as it should.

Grease the backside of a cupcake pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Four images show Churro Ice Cream Cups in progress, with piped pastry dough around inverted muffin tins, numbered 5–8, transforming from raw dough to golden-brown baked pastry rings.

Step 5: Begin piping the pastry around every other cavity making sugar to keep the lines of pastry close together and leaving no gaps. This helps prevent any holes in the bowls.

Step 6: Once the cups are all piped, gently tap the peak of the dough down on what will be the bottom of the bowl so it sits flat.

Step 7: Spray the outside of each pastry cup with more nonstick cooking spray so it browns evenly and crisps up.

Step 8: Place the in preheated oven and bake for 30 to 40 minutes until golden brown.

Roll each warm cup in the cinnamon sugar topping.

A swirled pastry coated with cinnamon sugar sits in a clear glass bowl, resembling delicious Churro Ice Cream Cups, with a metal baking pan and a blue cloth in the background.

Ideas for Fillings and Toppings

no bake cheesecake
s’more ingredients: marshmallow crème (fluff), chocolate, chips, bits of graham cracker
pudding
mini banana splits
mousse
whipped cream and caramel sauce

Tips For Success

Use nonstick cooking spray to grease the backside of the cupcake pan. If you use oil or butter, do it very, very liberally otherwise the cups will still stick.
I’ve learned a few things while testing this recipe that I want to share too. The first thing is to work quickly to get the choux pastry into the piping bag while it’s still hot and get it piped out. It’s not hot enough that it will burn you while you’re piping it. Once it cools down, it is SO hard to pipe and it doesn’t give the nice piped lines like it does when it’s done hot.
You’ll want to pipe on every other cup on the cupcake tin. There’s not enough space otherwise.
Thoroughly spray every other cup on the cupcake pan otherwise they stick and tear up your cups.
Once you have the choux pastry piped out on the cupcake cavities, give it a coat of cooking spray. That will make the cups crunchy and perfectly browned up too.

How to Store and Freeze

Use these cups immediately or store them in an airtight container or storage bag at room temperature for up to 3 days. You may need to reroll them in cinnamon sugar as they will begin melting the topping off after the first day.

I think you should be able to freeze these cups after they’re baked. Leave off the cinnamon sugar and let them cool completely. Place them in the freezer in a single layer until they’re firm, about 1 to 2 hours.

Place them in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container for up to 2 months. They may soften a lot while thawing at room temperature, so spray the outside of the cups with nonstick cooking spray, pop them in a 350 degrees F oven on a baking sheet bottom side up like they were baking on the cupcake pan, and bake until the exterior is crispy, probably 10-ish minutes would work. It’s always best to check them for yourself and see if they’re at your desired crispness.

A stack of four golden, sugar-coated cronut pastries sits on a plate, with two more cronuts beside them—reminiscent of irresistible Churro Ice Cream Cups.

Recipe FAQs

Can I double this recipe?

Yes! Go ahead and double the recipe. You may need a hand mixer to mix in the flour and then the eggs instead of doing it by hand with that much choux pastry.

Can I make mini cups using a mini cupcake pan?

I haven’t tried it, but I would think so. You’ll need a regular size piping tip or a small round tip for it to be small enough to fit because the cavities.

27 Comments

Dima Daoud says:

at

creative

Josette Bright says:

at

I had the same problem with my first batch. When I tried the second time, adding the flour thoroughly after taking it off the stove right away and adding the eggs one at a time helped make it a thicker batter.