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Learn the process of how to make churros! Churros are made by frying choux pastry batter into thin strips and tossing them in cinnamon sugar. Serve with warm chocolate sauce!

Hommade churros being dipped in chocolate dipping sauce

Overview

Churros are a fried pastry that are rolled in cinnamon sugar and often served with a chocolate dipping sauce. The pastry is made from frying long thin strips of choux pastry, also known as pate a choux.

Churros are traditional in Spain and Portugal, as well as in Mexico and South American countries. The texture of churros is light and airy. Because the churro batter has so much moisture in it, it puffs up once it is frying. The expansion of the dough creates a churro that is delicate and airy on the inside and the shell is slightly crispy.

Ingredient Functions

  • Milk & Water are the moisture for the churros and will help them puff up and expand once they are frying. 
  • Butter add richness and tenderness to the churros. 
  • Flour is the main structure for the churro and creates the shell.
  • Sugar adds a bit of sweetness and also helps the churros crisp up.
  • Vanilla Extract & Salt help the season the churro and enhance the flavor.

How to Make Churros

Churros are made with a french style pastry batter, called choux pastry. This is the same batter that is used to make cream puffs, eclairs, and french cruller donuts. After the choux pastry batter is made, it is simply piped into frying oil and then the finished churros can be rolled in a cinnamon sugar mixture for serving.

MAKE THE CHOUX PASTRY

  • STEP 1: In a saucepan, bring the milk, water, sugar, and butter to a boil.
  • STEP 2: Off the heat, add the flour into the pot all at once and stir vigorously until a cohesive dough forms.
Water, milk and butter in a pot
Flour stirred into pot
Chunky mixture in pot
  • STEP 3: Flatten the mixture to the bottom of the pan and turn the heat back on. Listen for the mixture to begin making a crackling sound.
  • STEP 4: Pull back the mixture to check for a thin film on the bottom of the pan. This indicates the mixture is dried out enough.
  • STEP 5: Stir the mixture off of the heat until all of the steam evaporates off. This is necessary to dry the pastry out enough and cool it off.
Mixture flattened on bottom of pot
Mixture being pulled away from bottom of pot by spatula
  • STEP 6: Stir in the eggs one at a time. Make sure each egg is completely absorbed into the batter before adding the next. This will take some time and will be a bit of an arm workout, but do not rush the process and add the eggs too quickly.
  • NOTE: When all of the eggs are stirred into the batter and it looks glossy it is done.
  • STEP 7: Chill batter in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
An egg added to the mixture in pot
Another egg added to the pot
Mixture after all eggs are stirred in

PIPE THE CHOUX PASTRY & FRY

  • STEP 8: Transfer the chilled batter to a pastry bag fit with a large star tip. Pipe strips of the pastry into frying oil that has been heated to 350 F. Use a sharp pairing knife to cut the churro off into the oil.
  • STEP 9: Fry the churros until they are golden brown and cooked through, about 3 minutes total.
  • STEP 10: Toss the churros in cinnamon sugar to coat.
Choux batter being pipped directly into a pot of hot oil
Drying the churros in hot oil
The golden churros being tossed in cinnamon sugar

Tips, Tricks, & Techniques

  • Churros are best served immediately, but they can be kept in a warm oven until it is time to serve.
  • If you would like the prep the churros before the day of frying you can make the choux pastry and pipe the churros onto parchment paper and freeze them flat. Once frozen solid, transfer the raw churros to a ziplock bag and store in the freezer. The frozen raw churros can go right into the frying oil the day of serving. Add about 1-2 minutes onto the frying time.
  • Churros can be easily flavored by adding spices and extracts into the choux pastry batter or by changing the spices in the sugar mixture that they are tossed in.
Platter of homemade churros that have been dipped in cinnamon and sugar

MORE RECIPES FROM BAKER BETTIE!

If you enjoyed this recipe, you might like to try these other recipes made from choux pastry.

Churros being dipped in chocolate sauce
Yield: About 30 Churros

Homemade Churros with Chocolate Dipping Sauce

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes

This is a recipe for making perfect homemade churros. These churros are fried to a light and crispy texture and are tossed in cinnamon sugar and served with a warm chocolate sauce.

Ingredients

For the Churro Batter

  • 114 grams (1/2 cup, 118 milliliters) water
  • 114 grams (1/2 cup, 118 milliliters) milk
  • 113 grams (1 stick, 1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 38 grams (3 tablespoons) granulated sugar
  • large pinch kosher salt
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
  • 120 grams (1 cup) all-purpose flour
  • 4 large eggs
  • oil for frying (canola, peanut, vegetable, or avocado oil)

For the Sugar Topping

  • 200 grams (1 cup) granulated sugar
  • 14 grams (2 tablespoons) ground cinnamon

For the Chocolate Sauce

  • 112 grams (4 ounces) bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, cut into small pieces (or 1/2 cup of chocolate chips)
  • 56 grams (4 tablespoons, 1/2 stick, 2 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Instructions

  1. Make the choux pastry (for the churro shells): In a sauce pot heat the water, milk, butter, sugar, salt and vanilla over medium heat. Once the mixture is boiling, take it off the heat and pour all of the flour into the pot at once. Stir quickly until the mixture comes together into a cohesive dough.
  2. Flatten the mixture to the bottom of the pan and return it to medium heat. Listen for the mixture to begin making a crackling sound. Once you hear it crackling, pull the mixture to one side of the pot and check if there is a thin film on the bottom. It there is, it is dried out enough. It not, heat longer until a film forms. Remove the mixture from the heat and stir until all of the steam has evaporated off. Keep stirring until you do not see anymore steam.
  3. Off the heat, add the eggs into the mixture and stir until each egg has completely absorbed into the batter before adding the next. This takes a little arm work to get it all mixed in. Do not rush this step. Each egg needs to be completely absorbed before adding the next. Once the batter is smooth and glossy it is done.
  4. Chill the batter in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
  5. Prep fry station: Meanwhile, set up a deep fryer, pot, or deep skillet with at least 3″ (7.5 cm) of oil. Bring the oil to 350 F (175 C). Also, combine your cinnamon and sugar mixture in a bowl and set aside.
  6. Pipe: Transfer the choux pastry to a piping bag fit with a large star tip. Pipe strips of the choux pastry into the hot frying oil, about 5-6" (13-15 cm) using a pairing knife to cut the strip off into the oil as it comes out of the pastry bag. You can fry several at a time, but do not over-crowd the oil.
  7. Fry: Use tongs to gently move the churros around in the oil, making sure they fry on both sides. Fry until the churros are golden brown, about 3 minutes. Transfer the cooked churros to paper towels to drain for about 1 minute. Toss the warm churros in the cinnamon sugar mixture to coat.
  8. To make the chocolate dipping sauce, place the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl. Set the cook time on your microwave to 2 minutes and start the microwave. Do not step away. Stop the microwave every 20 seconds and stir the chocolate with a rubber spatula. As soon as the chocolate is almost completely melted with only a few solid pieces left, remove it from the microwave. This will likely not take the full 2 minutes. Add the butter to the bowl and stir. The heat from the melted chocolate will melt the butter and the solid chocolate pieces to create a smooth glaze. Use immediately.

Notes

  • Oil Temperature: It is important to monitor the heat of the frying oil carefully. If it gets too hot the outside of the donut will burn before the inside has time to puff up and cook through.
  • Make Ahead: If you want to prep the churros ahead, pipe the choux pastry into the strips on parchment paper. Place the raw churros in the freezer until solid. Transfer the frozen raw churros to a freezer bag and store for up to 3 months. The day you want to serve them you can fry them straight from frozen. Add about 1-2 minutes to the fry time for frozen choux pastry.

Nutrition Information:


Amount Per Serving: Calories: 160
© Bettie
Category: All Recipes