Easy Churros Recipe (VIDEO) (2024)

FAQs

Why are my churros not crispy? ›

To check all those boxes, it's important to fry your churros in very hot oil. 400°F (204°C) oil provides the heat necessary to brown and crisp the outsides of the churros while also creating almost-instant steam inside of them. Thus we get crispy churros that are not oil-logged and have a light texture.

Churro Ingredients

This recipe requires simple refrigerator and pantry staples. For the shoux (pronounced “shoo”) pastry – a super versatile dough that combines: water, milk, butter, 1 tsp sugar, salt, flour, and eggs. It produces a smooth and non-sticky but pipeable dough.

The secret to the churro is finding high-quality oil. Water, butter, sugar, salt, and flour are enough to create the fried dough mixture. Vanilla and egg can give it the right taste and texture. Using a sculpted pipette tip, churros can be given their stereotypical shape.

In Seville (Andalusia), the name "calientes" (meaning hot) or "calentitos de rueda" is sometimes used instead of the word churro. These tend to refer to the thicker variant, called porra. Calientes are usually fried in the shape of a continuous spiral and cut into portions afterwards.

The main reason you may end up with raw churros is pulling them from the frying pan before they have cooked through. If you notice they are raw on the inside, pop them back in the pan to fry an additional minute or two.

Next, you have a choice of piping the batter into hot oil immediately, which will yield curved or S-shape churros; or piping it onto a piece of parchment and freezing for 30 minutes, which will make straight, stick-like churros.

If the oil is too cold, the churro will fall apart and take on too much oil, resulting in a greasy mess. It's also important to let the oil come back up to the proper temp between batches. Finally, don't overcrowd your pan; otherwise, the churros will steam instead of fry.

Some people pipe the dough onto parchment paper and freeze it so they can get perfect shapes. We have found freezing the dough prior to frying doesn't give as flaky and puffy a texture. We recommend squeezing the dough directly into the hot oil for the best texture.

Soggy batter means your oil was not hot enough. Raw inside means your oil was too hot, so the onion ring browned on the outside before the inside was cooked.

Is there a difference between Mexican and Spanish churros? ›

The main difference between Mexican and Spanish churros is cinnamon. What is this? In Spain, churros are only coated in sugar and served with a chocolate dipping sauce. In Mexico, churros are coated in a sugar and cinnamon mixture and can be eaten alone or with dipping sauces like chocolate or caramel.

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.

Churros (deep-fried, cinnamon-and-sugar-coated pastry sticks) aren't exactly the healthiest snack. But Robin Miller's lightened-up baked churros are a better-for-you alternative.

Churros taste like a freshly fried sugary donut but better. Made of dough, fried, and sprinkle with sugar or cinnamon and sugar mixture, this dessert is crunchy on the outside. Sometimes the inside contains chocolate, dulce de leche, or sweet jelly.

Another important note is that while churros in Mexico and other Latin American countries contain egg and butter, recipes in Spain are way more simple containing just 3 ingredients: flour, salt and water.

In neighboring Spain, shepherds would fry strips of dough and coat them in sugar to give them an easily portable snack during their long journeys in the mountains. Over time, the shepherds came to call the delicious sweet pastry “churro” since the shape reminded them of the horns from the Navajo-Churro breed of sheep.

Are they vegan? Generally, yes, they are!