Churros
Homemade churros are easier to make than you might think. The texture of these is spot-on – nice and crispy on the outside and soft and light on the inside. Plus, they’re extra good when dipped in my Mexican chocolate sauce!
The recipe makes enough for a crowd, but you might not want to share!
Ingredients and Equipment
There are no unusual ingredients in this recipe. In fact, you may already have them all in your pantry.
Make sure you have lots of oil for frying. I fry in vegetable oil.
It’s easiest to make churros in a deep fryer [paid link] because you can pipe them onto the basket and then lower it gently into the fryer. However, you can also use a large deep pot.
To get the distinctive churro shape, you’ll need a pastry bag fitted with a star piping tip. I used a Wilton 1M [paid link].
Instructions
Churros are actually fried choux pastry. Choux (also called pâte à choux) is the same base that is used for fancy desserts like eclairs and profiteroles, so once you’ve mastered this recipe, you can move on to some other impressive treats.
Note: For a healthier version of this recipe, check out my post on air fryer churros!
To prepare the choux, add water, milk, butter, sugar, and salt to a saucepan and bring to a boil.
Remove from heat and immediately stir in flour. Heating the flour at this point causes the starch in it to gelatinize, which which will help the pastry hold onto steam and puff up when you later fry it. When you stir the flour in, the whole batter should come together to be a thick dough.
Let it cool for 10 minutes before adding the eggs – you don’t want to cook them. And, add a splash of vanilla along with the eggs.
Mix it all up with an electric mixer until it is smooth.
Now, it’s time to fry! Load your choux pastry into a piping bag fitted with a star tip and pipe strips of dough directly into a deep fryer basket or your hot fry oil in a pot. You’ll need to use a knife or a scissors to cut the dough at the end of each strip.
As I mentioned above, it’s easier to make this recipe if you have a deep fryer and can pipe into its basket. If you don’t, you might notice that the churros are a little more curvy than mine from floating around as you are still piping. They will taste the same, though.
If it’s really important to you that the churros be straight, pipe the churros onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet and then freeze them. Once they are completely frozen, remove them from the parchment and drop them into the hot oil. This method is also a bit safer because your hand isn’t hovering over the hot oil as long.
Fry for about two minutes on each side.
When the churros are done, place them in a paper bag filled with cinnamon and sugar and gently shake to coat them.
Eat hot, dipped in Mexican chocolate sauce.
Expert Tips and FAQs
Like any other donut-like food, they are best hot out of the fryer. However, I have been known to eat these up to one week after making them. I just pop them in the microwave for a few seconds to warm them up first. They aren’t as good as the fresh ones, but they’re still quite enjoyable.
If Mexican chocolate sauce isn’t your thing, try cajeta or dulce de leche. You can also serve them with ice cream!
Yes! I love making heart-shaped churros for Valentine’s Day. You can definitely get creative with this recipe.
Yes, pipe the churro batter onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet and freeze. Put the frozen churros in an airtight container in the freezer. You can drop them directly in the fryer when you are ready to make them.
While You Have the Fry Oil Out, Try These Recipes
- Churro cupcakes
- Deep fried cupcakes
- Copycat Krispy Kreme doughnuts
- Cuddrireddra (a fried cookie with a very unique story)
- Hand Pies
Churros with Chocolate Sauce
Ingredients
Churros Ingredients
- vegetable oil for frying
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter chopped into pieces
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Mexican chocolate sauce
Instructions
Churros Instructions
- Heat vegetable oil to 360 F in a large pot coming up to about 1 1/2 inches or to the fill line in a deep fryer.
- In a large saucepan on medium-high heat, bring water, milk, butter, sugar, and salt to a boil.
- Immediately remove from heat and stir in flour until it forms a ball.
- Leave it to cool for five minutes.
- Mix eggs and vanilla into the dough with an electric mixer until it forms a smooth batter. Don't worry if it separates at any point. Keep mixing and it will come together.
- Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a star tip (such as a Wilton 1M).
- Pipe 4" lines of dough directly into hot oil or onto the basket of a deep fryer that you will then lower into hot oil. Use a knife or kitchen scissors to cut the dough at the end of each strip.
- Fry for two minutes, then flip and fry for another two minutes on the other side.
- Remove from the oil and carefully shake in a paper bag filled with cinnamon and sugar until evenly coated.
- Serve warm with Mexican chocolate sauce.
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