Authentic Churros Recipe with Chocolate Sauce

The ultimate authentic Churros recipe–this is the one you’ve been searching for! Crispy, cinnamon and sugar dusted outside, soft and buttery inside with a special technique that makes them even easier to make! Don’t skip on the Mexican Chocolate Sauce either, it’s the perfect accompaniment. Video included!

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Be honest with me, is there anything better than a freshly-fried churro?

Okay, maybe a freshly-fried churro dipped in warm, spiced chocolate sauce that just a bit thicker than hot chocolate. You can’t convince me there’s anything better than that.

If you’ve never made churros at home, I encourage you to give it a try. They really are not as difficult as one may assume. Yes, there’s the whole vat of hot oil thing, but once you get over that, it’s pretty much smooth sailing.

Especially because I learned a super helpful technique that bypasses the whole piping-churro-dough-into-hot-oil thing that practically guarantees churro success!

what are churros?

Churros have become synonymous with street carts and shopping malls, Disneyland, and anywhere else fried food is quickly doled out for a small fortune.

But churros have a long, rich history and have been enjoyed for centuries. They are originally from Spain by way of Portugal and China. The Spanish brought this fried dough idea to South American and Mexico where they also discovered chocolate and there, a match made in heaven was discovered.

The dough is essentially the same as pâte à choux or cream puff dough—water, butter, and salt melted in a saucepan and then flour added in to create a thick dough.

After an egg gets beaten in, the dough can be piped into any shape you please, although long, star-shaped sticks are most common. Then they are fried until golden brown and coated in cinnamon sugar.

You can find them filled, made from crushed Oreos, and practically any other flavor but my favorites are the classic cinnamon sugar ones just like they serve at Churrería El Moro in Mexico City and I’m happy to say, I think this recipe comes pretty darn close.

The Special Churro Technique You’ve Been Missing

Most churros recipes have you pipe the dough directly into the hot oil and fry until golden, which is fine if you’re a churros master.

For all us regular folks, there is a secret to making churros at home, that is pure genius, not to mention, stress free. David Castro Hussong suggests in his book, The Baja California Cookbook, that you pipe the churros on to a baking sheet first, then stick the baking sheet in the freezer until they are stiff.

When you are ready to fry, all you do is peel the churros off the parchment-lined baking sheet and straight into the hot oil. They fry up just as quickly to a beautiful golden brown.

what we need to make them

One of the best things about churros is the minimal ingredients list. If you do a bit of research you’ll find that all churros recipes contain water, some kind of fat (I use butter), flour, and egg. What makes them different are the ratio of these ingredients.

I find using more butter and less egg makes a deliciously crisp, easy to pipe, and not overly eggy batter. Here’s everything you’ll need to make these fabulous churros:

Ingredients

• Water
• Granulated sugar
• Unsalted butter
• Kosher salt
• All-Purpose flour
• Vanilla extract
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 quart of vegetable oil, for frying
• Ground cinnamon

equipment

• Candy thermometer or deep-fry thermometer. One that clips onto the side of the pot to measure the oil’s temperature.
• A hand mixer or stand mixer for beating the egg into the batter
• Sturdy piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch star tip. I like the Open Star Pasty Tips and not the French or closed star ones.
• Medium saucepan and wooden spoon
• Very wide, shallow frying pan or braiser for frying the churros. I like to use my Le Creuset Braiser because it is very wide and I can make very long churros that will fit in the pan. Measure the width of the pan you plan on frying the churros in before you pipe them out to make sure you don’t make them longer than what will fit in the pan.

How to Make Churros

Heat the liquid

Combine water, sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt in a medium saucepan and place over medium high heat. Bring to a boil then remove from the heat.

Beat in the flour

Add the flour to the mixture and beat in with a wooden spoon. Stir constantly until it is completely incorporated and forms a very thick dough.

Beat in the egg

Transfer dough to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and set aside for a few minutes to cool. Add the egg and beat on medium until the egg is completely incorporated and the dough is soft and stretchy.

pipe churros

Put the star tip in the piping bag and set the bag inside a tall glass or Mason jar. Fold the end of the piping bag over the glass to make a large opening. Scrape the batter into the bag with a rubber spatula, pressing the dough down into the bag.

Line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper and carefully pipe dough on to the baking sheet.

freeze churros

Stick baking sheet into the freezer and freeze the churros until they are stiff, about 15-30 minutes.

fry churros

Pour vegetable oil into a large pot and heat oil to 360°F.

Once oil is hot enough, cook 3 or 4 churros at a time. Don’t add too many at once or the oil temperature will drop too low. Keep frying churros until crisp and golden brown, about 2 minutes per side.

coat in cinnamon sugar

Combine cinnamon and sugar in a shallow bowl. Place churros in the bowl while they are still warm and coat in the cinnamon mixture.

More churro and churro-like recipes to try!

• Chocolate Churro Hearts with Boozy Dulce de Leche Sauce
• Gluten Free Churros and Chocolate Dipping Sauce
• Churro Bacon Waffles
• No-Churn Churros con Chocolate Ice Cream
• Chocolate-Dipped Churros Ice Cream Sandwiches
• Homemade Churros con Chocolate Peanut Butter

Cook Churros Once and You’ll Never See Them The Same

Once you’ve mastered this technique, I assure you, you’ll find any excuse to make them all. the. time. Let me know when you do by snapping a pic and tagging me on Instagram @holajalapeno and #holajalapeno so I can see or leave me a comment below (don’t forget to leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating) ! Also, sign up for my weekly newsletter, lots of good stuff there too!

Resources

A Brief History of Churros from Salt and Wind Travel

The Baja California Cookbook by David Castro Hussong

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