Churros con Chocolate

About This Recipe

Churros are one of Spain's most beloved street foods and breakfast items, eaten at churrería stalls and cafés throughout the country, particularly in Madrid. The Spanish tradition is to eat them in the early hours of the morning after a night out, or as a warming winter breakfast with thick, almost pudding-like hot chocolate for dunking. Spanish churros are distinct from their Latin American counterparts: they are long, ridged sticks without filling, fried until crisp outside and soft inside. The chocolate in Spain (chocolate a la taza) is dramatically thicker than drinking chocolate elsewhere — more like melted chocolate than a drink, made thick with cornflour and meant specifically for dipping.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 200 gplain flour
• 250 mlboiling water
• ½ tspsalt
• oil(for deep frying)
• 4 tbspcaster sugar(for dusting)
• 1 tspcinnamon(for dusting)
• 200 gdark chocolate(70% cocoa)
• 300 mlfull-fat milk
• 1 tbspcornflour
• 2 tbspcaster sugar(for chocolate)

Instructions

1. 1

   Make churro dough

   Sift flour and salt into a bowl. Pour in boiling water all at once and stir vigorously until a smooth, stiff dough forms. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle. Let cool 5 minutes.

2. 2

   Make chocolate sauce

   Whisk cornflour with a little cold milk until smooth. Heat remaining milk to simmering. Add chocolate pieces and stir until melted. Add cornflour mixture and sugar; stir until thick. Keep warm.

3. 3

   Fry churros

   Heat oil to 180°C. Pipe 15cm lengths of dough directly into oil, snipping with scissors. Fry 3–4 minutes, turning, until deep golden and crisp all over. Drain on paper towel.

   Do not overcrowd the oil — it drops the temperature and makes greasy churros.

4. 4

   Coat and serve

   Mix caster sugar and cinnamon. Toss hot churros in mixture. Serve immediately with warm chocolate sauce for dipping.

Variations

• •

  Porras (Madrid style) are thicker, puffier churros made with a looser batter.

• •

  The Latin American version fills cooked churros with dulce de leche using a piping bag.

• •

  Vegetarian: swap the protein for roasted king oyster mushrooms, smoked tofu or cooked chickpeas — adjust seasoning slightly upward to compensate.

• •

  Spicier: add a finely chopped fresh chile or a teaspoon of crushed Aleppo/Urfa pepper to the aromatics for warm, layered heat instead of a single sharp hit.

Storage

Eat immediately — churros go stale within an hour.

Frequently Asked Questions