Crispy Churros with Chocolate Dipping Sauce

About This Recipe

Churros are one of the great street foods of the Spanish-speaking world — hot, crispy, freshly fried pastry in the shape of ridged logs or loops, coated in cinnamon sugar and served with a cup of thick, dark chocolate for dipping. In Mexico City's Mercado San Juan, churrerías operate all night, serving churros hot from the fryer to crowds that span every social class. In Spain, they are eaten for breakfast. In American theme parks, they are eaten by everyone. The dough (choux-adjacent but denser) is piped through a star-tip into hot oil, creating the distinctive ridges that maximize surface area for caramelization and cinnamon sugar coating. The technique is quick to learn and the result is extremely satisfying — the contrast of the shatteringly crisp exterior and the soft, slightly eggy interior is one of the great textural pleasures in fried food. The chocolate sauce is the other half of the equation: thick, nearly pudding-like Mexican hot chocolate (or a European-style thick chocolate sauce) that the churro breaks through on the first dip. Make churros fresh and serve them immediately — they lose their crunch within minutes. Gather people around the fryer for the best experience, eating them hot while the dipping chocolate steams beside them.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 1 cupwater
• ½ cupunsalted butter
• 1 tbspgranulated sugar
• 1 tspfine salt
• 1 cupall-purpose flour
• 3 largeeggs
• 1 tsppure vanilla extract
• 4 cupsvegetable oil(for frying)
• ¾ cupgranulated sugar(for coating)
• 2 tspground cinnamon(for coating)
• 4 ozdark chocolate (60%)(for dipping sauce)
• ½ cupheavy cream(for dipping sauce)
• 1 tbspbutter(for dipping sauce)

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the dough

   Bring water, butter, sugar and salt to a boil in a saucepan. Remove from heat and add flour all at once. Stir vigorously until dough comes together. Return to medium heat and stir 2 minutes to dry out slightly.

   Drying out the dough slightly is essential — excess moisture creates steaming rather than frying.

2. 2

   Add eggs

   Cool dough 5 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time until smooth and shiny. Add vanilla. The dough should fall slowly in thick ribbons.

3. 3

   Pipe and fry

   Fill a piping bag fitted with a large star tip (#1M). Heat oil to 375°F. Pipe 6-inch lengths of dough into the oil, cutting with scissors. Fry 3–4 minutes, turning, until deep golden. Drain on paper towels.

   Don't overcrowd the pot — fry in batches of 4–5 churros. Overcrowding drops the oil temperature.

4. 4

   Coat in cinnamon sugar

   Mix sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl. Roll hot churros in cinnamon sugar while still warm.

5. 5

   Make chocolate sauce

   Heat cream until steaming. Pour over chopped chocolate. Let sit 2 minutes, then stir until smooth. Add butter and stir. Serve warm alongside churros.

Variations

• •

  Filled Churros: pipe dulce de leche or Nutella into freshly fried churros using a piping bag.

• •

  Churro Bites: pipe small 2-inch pieces for bite-sized portions.

• •

  Churro Waffles: cook the dough in a waffle iron for a hybrid dessert.

Storage

Churros must be eaten fresh. The dough can be prepared and refrigerated up to 1 day before frying.

Frequently Asked Questions