Churros Recipe
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These Churros are a homemade dessert that are a homemade choux pastry that is deep fried and coated in a sweet cinnamon and sugar coating. The outside of the churros are crunchy and covered with cinnamon sugar. The inside of these churros is a light, fluffy dough and just a touch sweet.
Do you know what is so fantastic about churros? Eating them while they’re hot. These taste pretty much identical to the churros cereal, except these are fresh out of hot oil. Trust me, it makes a difference. I didn’t even make a sauce to dip these cute little fried strips in.
They were heavenly without a dipping sauce.. and they wouldn’t have made it to the finishing of the dipping sauce. I had to beat off the boys and myself to get these pictures. Thank goodness Wesley came home for lunch as I was finishing the frying. I was almost afraid he wouldn’t get any. Ooops.
Make sure to try out my baked churros which are a bit different than fried churros. Or whip up these churro ice cream cups that are the perfect weekend treat.
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Ingredients Needed
See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for all ingredients and quantities.
Water – Reach for water that is filtered for working with the dough. I do recommend using room-temperature water.
Butter – You can use salted or unsalted butter for this recipe. If you use salted butter, you can leave out the dash of salt.
Granulated Sugar – You’ll sweeten the churro dough with a little sugar and create a cinnamon sugar coating that you will dust your churros in for the perfect sweet coating.
Oil – You’ll of course use oil for deep frying to create that golden brown texture. You can use vegetable or canola oil.
Salt – Salt is a must as it is going to help enhance all the flavors. Do not skip adding the salt to the pastry dough.
Flour – The base of the dough is all-purpose flour. I use King Arthur brand. This is going to create a light and fluffy texture to the churros.
Variations To Recipe
- Filled: Consider using an injector and add in some caramel, chocolate sauce, or even a jam filling. Just add some filling in a piping bag with a small tip and pipe in.
- Dough: Feel free to add different flavor extracts to create a flavored dough. You could even add in some lemon or orange zest.
- Sauce: Pair with a sweet sauce for dipping. Chocolate ganache, caramel sauce, a fruit compote, etc.
- Coating: Coat in powdered sugar, festive sprinkles, or even chopped nuts. Or do a blend of coating.
NOTE: This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations
How to Make Churros
Let’s do some prep work first. Start with a medium saucepan add your oil, and heat it as directed in the recipe card. Then you will set a plate or tray on the table with paper towels for when you place churros on it to drain off the grease.
Step 1: In a small bowl add your cinnamon and sugar and set to the side.
Step 2: Next in a medium saucepan, you will add your water, oil, sugar, and salt. Let it come to a boil on medium heat.
Step 3 & 4: Then once it comes to a boil, you will remove it from the heat. Then whisk in the flour, making the dough form into a ball.
Step 5: Place the dough into a large mixing bowl and beat with a hand mixer on medium speed until the mixture has cooled.
Step 6: Begin beating the eggs into the dough one at a time until each egg is well incorporated. The dough will be sticky.
Step 7 & 8: Fill a disposable piping bag fitted with an Ateco 849 piping tip with the choux pastry and begin to pipe 2-4 inch strips in the hot oil. Use a butter knife or clean scissors to cut the ends so it drops into the oil.
Step 9: Fry for 2 minutes or until golden brown on all sides.
Step 10: Scoop the churros out of the oil, and place them on the paper-towel-lined plate for a minute to drip off excess oil.
Step 11: Then roll the churros into the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Serve and enjoy warm.
Tips For Making Churros
Storing and Freezing
Room Temperature: If you do not eat all your churros, simply store them in an airtight container at room temperature. You can store them for 1-2 days.
Freezing: Now you can freeze the raw dough if you would like. Pipe out and place on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Freeze the dough until it is solid. Then transfer to a freezer bag or container for up to 1 month. Then fry them directly from freezing. Just add a few more minutes to ensure they are fully cooked.
Recipe FAQs
I used the Ateco 848 for my churros. All the grooves that this tip put into the churros really picked up and held the cinnamon and sugar. I think any tip that has some indents in it will do the job. I’m not even sure what the traditional tip is that you would use.
Churros are best served fresh, so I do recommend not making them ahead of time. If you want you can freeze the dough or refrigerate the dough up to 24 hours in advance.
The best way to prevent the churros from betting soggy is to drain off the excess oil, and then serve them warm. The churros will soften as they cool down.
Yes! This recipe can be doubled to make more churros.
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Churros
Ingredients
Churro Dough
- ¼ cup butter sliced
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 dash salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 large eggs
- vegetable oil for frying
Coating
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
Coating
- In a small bowl, add the cinnamon and sugar. Stir until combined. You will use this for coating the churros. Set aside.
Churro Dough
- In a medium saucepan, add the water, butter, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil over low/medium heat.
- Remove from the heat and add in the flour. Stir constantly, with a rubber spatula, until the mixture comes together and is smooth with no lumps.
- Place on low/medium heat again and continue stirring until it forms a ball of dough. The dough will be very sticky and compact.
- Transfer to a mixing bowl and using a hand mixer on medium speed, beat until the dough is just barely warm and begins to tear into small pieces.
- Add in one egg at a time and continue mixing on medium speed until smooth.
- Add the ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon . Stir until combined.
- Transfer the mixture to a disposable piping bag fitted with a closed star piping tip. I used an Ateco #849 tip.
- In a large saucepan, cast iron skillet, or Dutch oven, add 2 inches of vegetable oil. Heat on medium heat until the oil reaches 370 degrees F. I suggest using a thermometer because it’s important to maintain the oil at that temperature during the frying of the churros.
- Carefully pipe the churro mixture in the preheated oil, making each churro about 2 inches long and cutting the end with clean scissors.
- Repeat this for 4 -5 churros, depending on how big your pot is. It is important not to overcrowd the pot so that they cook evenly.
- Let fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to paper towels to dry briefly then transfer to cinnamon sugar mixture and roll to coat.
- Repeat the process with the remaining dough. Serve warm with chocolate ganache if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
(Nutrition facts are an estimate and not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietitian for special diet advice.)
This post was originally posted on July 18, 2013, but has been updated with a new recipe and photos.
Can i freeze the dough? And thAw it afterwards?
Hi Liberty- You can make the dough, pipe it into logs and then freeze the shaped churro dough. When you are ready to cook, you can just toss the frozen churro dough straight into the fryer. Enjoy!
Hi there Miranda! I just made these and my whole family loved them :–) Thanks for the recipe!
Have a lovely day! x
You’re welcome. I’m glad everyone loved them. Thank you for commenting. 😀
I love churros but have never thought to make my own. Yours looks fantastic Miranda! Yum, I would rush to eat the whole lot too. They incredibly drool worthy 🙂
Thank you! These were so tasty! If you get a chance you’ll have to make them.