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!
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.
Video
Notes
If you pipe directly into oil rather than the basket of a deep fryer, the churros won't be straight. If this bothers you, pipe them onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet, freeze them, and then drop the frozen churros directly into the fry oil. This technique is also helpful if you want to prepare batter in advance to fry at a later time.