Churros Recipe

This churros recipe is astonishingly easy, and makes a truly great churros that’s hot and crisp on the outside, fluffy on the inside. The molten chocolate dipping sauce is mandatory, and you’ll have an entire batch on the table in a mere 20 minutes!

BONUS: Churros are great for making ahead, making it a great party dessert.

Churros recipe

Up until several years ago, this churros obsessed food blogger thought Churros was native to Mexico. Thus on her first (but certianly not last) trip to Mexico, she was expecting to be in churro heaven. Churros, churros, churros everywhere.

But no. I barely saw churro at all.

Duh. Churro isn’t native to Mexico. It’s Spanish!🤦🏻‍♀️

So just as tourists here in Australia wonder why there aren’t kangaroos bounding around on the streets of Sydney and koalas snuggled in trees everywhere, I guess I totally missed the Churro memo.

Having said that though, it is actually very popular in the touristy areas of Mexico!!

We don’t break out the deep fryer very often around here. But with the promise of hot crispy churros waiting on the other side, and also because we only need to shallow fry rather than deep fry like when making things like Fried Chicken, we deem churros to be Fry-Worthy.

Also, it’s FRY-day today.😂 (FRIday) Admit it, you laughed!!

What goes in churros

All you need is flour, baking powder, oil and boiling water to make the batter, then cinnamon and sugar for coating.

Boiling water is key here – it makes the batter a unique “gummy” texture so when piped and cooked, it retains the signature ridges. There’s no sugar in the batter – with the cinnamon sugar coating plus mandatory dipping sauce, you absolutely don’t need it.

What does churros taste like?

They taste like cinnamon doughnuts – but BETTER because you’ve got crispy ridges. The inside is fluffy like a doughnut and they are at their prime freshly made, but they reheat exceptionally well too making them a great make ahead for parties!

How to make churros

The batter is a mere dump-and-mix job, and it’s got a unique thick “gummy” texture so the churros holds its form when it’s piped, even before it hits the oil.

The safest and easiest way to cook churros is to use scissors. Because the batter is so thick, you can pipe the batter out and it will hang from the piping bag as you lower it into the oil (as opposed to dropping out, causing the oil to splash), then just snip with scissors.

How long to make them

They come in varying lengths, with longer ones (ie 30cm / 1 foot) being more of a novelty type at carnivals and tourist hot spots. Around 15cm / 6″ is a more practical length – still long enough to look impressive, but short enough to cook in a standard size household pot.

You could also make shorter ones for small bite size options, and if you don’t have a piping bag, just drop balls of dough into the oil and make churros doughnuts!

How to serve churros

I know this might sound like an odd section to include for those of you with extensive churros eating experience – but actually, churros is not so common here in Australia so let me describe how to eat it!

It’s traditionally a street snack, so you buy one long one or a little paper cup with a few shorter ones in it, then eat it while walking around on the street. Managing a dipping sauce while on the move can become a bit tricky, but where there’s a will, there’s a way.

At home, I just pile them up on a platter with a little cup of the dipping sauce, then you just dunk and eat!

Don’t count the churros and compare to what the recipe says it will make. I’ll just tell you now – there’s two missing!

How to REHEAT Churros!

As with anything deep fried, churros are at their prime when they’re freshly made. They stay warm and crisp for around 20 minutes once they come out of the oil, which is ample time to cook a whole batch, coat in cinnamon sugar then serve.

After 30 minutes or so, they soften. And though, like doughnuts, they are still delicious when cold and soft, it’s definitely worth popping them in the oven to reheat and more importantly, crisp up again.

And if you are making these ahead intentionally (as opposed to just reheating leftovers), store the churros WITHOUT the sugar coating – this will make them reheat to near freshly cooked perfection, then just roll in the cinnamon sugar and serve! – Nagi x

PS BONUS: Churros impresses people. “You MADE these??!”  *She beams with pride, making a weak attempt to hide her glee*😂

Watch how to make it

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Churros Recipe

Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats

Prep: 5 mins

Cook: 15 mins

Total: 20 mins

Sweet

Mexican, Spanish

4.99 from 52 votes

Servings12 - 20 churros

Tap or hover to scale

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Recipe video above. I am obsessed with Churro!! Great party food because they reheat well in the oven. If you don't have a piping bag, just drop little dollops of dough in the oil and make churros doughnut balls!

Ingredients

CupsMetric

Cinnamon Sugar Coating

• 1/4 cup caster / superfine sugar1/4 cup caster / superfine sugar
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon2 tsp ground cinnamon

Churros

• 1 cup flour, plain / all purpose (Note 1)1 cup flour, plain / all purpose (Note 1)
• 1 tsp baking powder1 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of saltPinch of salt
• 1 tbsp vegetable, canola or olive oil (not extra virgin olive oil)1 tbsp vegetable, canola or olive oil (not extra virgin olive oil)
• 1 cup boiling water1 cup boiling water
• 2 cups+ vegetable or canola oil , for frying2 cups+ vegetable or canola oil , for frying

Chocolate Sauce

• 1/2 cup dark chocolate or semi sweet chocolate chips (Note 2)1/2 cup dark chocolate or semi sweet chocolate chips (Note 2)
• 1/2 cup thickened / heavy cream (heavy cream)1/2 cup thickened / heavy cream (heavy cream)

Instructions

• Cinnamon sugar coating: Combine sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl, set aside.
• Batter: Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Add oil and water and mix until just combined - it should be a thick, gummy batter, like a wet sticky dough, not thin and watery.
• Piping bag: Transfer dough into a piping bag with a 8mm / 1/3" star tip nozzle. Set aside while oil heats.
• Heat oil: Heat 5cm / 2" oil over medium high in a small pot, wok or small but deep skillet (Note 3) to 170°C/340°F, or until it takes 20 seconds for a small cube of bread to turn golden.
• Pipe & snip: Pipe 15cm / 6" lengths of dough into the oil, snipping with scissors (snip close to oil surface to avoid splash). Do 3 to 4 per batch, makes 10 to 12 in total.
• Cook: Cook for 2-3 minutes or until golden and crisp, rolling occasionally.
• Drain: Remove onto paper towel lined plate to drain. Then roll in sugar. Serve hot with Chocolate Sauce!

Chocolate Sauce:

• Place in a heatproof bowl and microwave in 30 second bursts, stirring in between, until smooth. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool and thicken slightly.

Recipe Notes:

Makes about 12 x 15cm/6" long ones, or 20 shorter ones. 

1. Flour - Use plain / all purpose flour, not self raising flour.

2. Chocolate - Make sure you get chocolate for cooking (ie from baking aisle), not chocolate for eating! It melts properly.

3. Deep frying - In the video, I use a smallish pot which is large enough to make churros around 17 cm / 7" long. To use minimal oil, the best is to a wok (because the shape means you can use less oil for the same surface area for frying). A deep small skillet also works great.

4. MAKE AHEAD: Do not roll in sugar. Allow to cool completely, then store in airtight container (not in fridge). It will go soft. Reheat in 180C/350F oven for 5 minutes or until crisp, then roll in sugar.

5. GENERAL NOTE: Some people have commented about the absence of sugar in the batter. It isn't needed - the coating adds loads of sweetness, not to mention the dipping sauce!

6. Recipe source - This is a recipe by Nigella Lawson that I found online but no longer seems to be available. There is a version on Food Network but the ingredient measurements are slightly different and I found it does not work as well, (dough too sloppy) so I have stuck to the original recipe that I am grateful I printed out to save in my recipe folder!

6. Different Measures in Different Countries - Measuring spoons and cups differ slightly between some countries. The difference is quite small so it does not affect most recipes, but for baking recipes, it usually does matter. For all recipes on my site, where the difference does matter, I specifically provide different measures depending on where you are located, like for my Oatmeal Raisin Cookies. For this Spanish Churros, the measures specified in the ingredients will work whichever country you are in.

If you are in a high altitude or very humid tropical area, you may find the dough is sloppier than what you see in the video. In which case, just adjust by adding a touch more flour. And vice versa if your dough looks too dry.

7. No nutrition today. Because it's deep fried and I don't know how to calculate it. But I do know the calorie count is higher than a celery stick. 😉

Keywords: churros, churros recipe

Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @RecipeTinEats.

Originally published 2016. Long overdue for fresh new photos, brand new process steps and video!

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And from the original publication date in 2016:

Caved. ☺️

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