Churros
Take it from the top!
Churros are kind of the Spanish version of donuts. Taco Bell ripped them off with their Cinnamon Twists. The original Spanish churros were made with just flour and water (maybe some oil) dough but nowadays in Mexico, churro batter is enriched with eggs, butter and sugar. In chatting with my pal Hector about this, we concluded that the Mexican churros must have been influenced by French invaders (much like Mexican bolillos are very similar to French baguettes). And because butter and eggs are tastier than no butter or eggs, and because I’m from Texas and that is way closer to Mexico than to Spain, I’ve made the Mexican churros here.
The churro dough is basically a choux pastry (or paté a choux) which is the same used to make gougeres and eclairs. The difference is that instead of being baked, it is fried in this case. The dough itself is pretty bland, but the roll in cinnamon-sugar makes up for that. Roll them while they’re still warm so the sugar sticks and melts a little and makes a crunchy shell.
How to Make Churros Video – scroll down for printable recipe
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Churros Recipe – Printable!
Churros
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 20-24 1x
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 5 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups oil for frying (corn, peanut, canola, light olive)
- For coating, mix together in a shallow dish:
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Combine water, butter, sugar and salt in a medium pot and bring to boil over medium heat.
- Turn off heat and add flour all at once. Stir briskly until a ball forms.
- Turn into a large bowl or mixing bowl. Let cool 5 minutes.
- Beat eggs with vanilla in a small bowl.
- Mix in half the eggs either with a wooden spoon or electric mixer on medium speed until combined. Mix in remaining egg until smooth.
- Heat 2-3 inches of oil to 350ºF.
- Set up a piping bag with a 1/2 inch star tip (I used a Wilton 4B) and fill with half the dough or fill a churrera fitted with a star tip.
- Squeeze 3-4 inch lengths of dough into hot oil. Use your non-dominant hand to squeeze and your dominant hand to cut lengths off with scissors or a knife.
- Fry 4 churros at a time for 2-3 minutes on each side. Turn them with a slotted spoon.
- When golden brown, remove to paper-lined tray to drain.
- While still warm, gently coat with sugar/cinnamon mixture.
- Serve hot.
Notes
Dough may be made a day before and stored in an airtight container overnight. Fried and sugared churros may be kept warm in a low oven for up to an hour. Arrange on a rack over a baking sheet in a 200-250ºF oven.
Nutrition info is estimated
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 163
144 Comments
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How much flour? You forgot to put flour in your written recipe. I figured probably around a cup or cup and half, am I close? 🙂
It was one cup, Michelle. Sorry about that! It’s fixed.
Hi im crying over here im pregnant and want churros. When i add the flour its extremely watery why? Doesnt come out right when im doing your exact measurements. Makes me feel so stupid n frustrated.
Don’t cry, Lorraine!
When you’re making the dough it’s very important to bring the liquids to a boil before adding the flour for it to thicken properly.
But now you can just put it in the fridge and let it cool. It will harden enough to pipe into the oil once it’s cooler.
Sorry you are feeling bad. 🙁
how many dose it make ? i need ansow now help
As noted on the recipe card, near the top, it makes 20-24 small churros
Man.. my arm hurts for you.. ugh! 🙂
How much flour?
Oops! One cup. Fixed that. Sorry, Adrian! It’s very unusual for me to leave out an ingredient like that.
Hi Hilah, so I watched your video not to long ago and I thought the churros turned out great! But I was wondering if you could do a churro sandwich! Love all your videos! Thx
omg you replied to me 😀 and I’ve just noticed now. 2 years since I’ve asked :D, I’m feeling a little peckish and my tummy says “churros!!”. Love your videos and your work, lots of love from Poland :))
These sound great! Although…is there a good way to use different flavors for these? I can’t stand cinnamon, so I figured I could try something else…like chocolate maybe?
Ooh, yes I bet cocoa powder mixed with sugar would be delicious. Or if you can find vanilla flavored sugar, that would be good, too!
you could scrape the seeds of a vanilla pod and then mix them in sugar
I’ve actually just filled a large mason jar up with regular white sugar and placed the pods did in it. Within a week, vanilla flavoured sugar…
Why is my dough runny
I don’t know. I’ve never had that happen. Try refrigerating it for a couple hours
I just made this recipe. So tasty! I made so many I had to invite some friends over.
That’s marvelous, Lisa! So happy the churros turned out. I’m sure your friends will thank you. 🙂
hi i made these a week ago and they were great so easy but instead of piping them i rolled them into long pieces and they worked out fine. thanks hilah 🙂
Hi Marlee! Thanks for sharing that tip! I’m sure many people don’t have a piping bag. 🙂 Glad you liked the churros!
Your electric fryer bucket looks great! I’d hate to use more oil than necessary in a larger fryer. Can you post the details of this appliance?
Thanks and I love your videos!
Hi Tyler! It’s called a FryDaddy and it uses about 4 cups of oil. You can buy one here.
Thanks for writing!
Hi! I want to make churros by today..
hi I am just going to be making these churros so I will be able to give you back a reply because my last churros recipe failed cause the vid that I watched said no eggs needed the dough went so doughy and hard hard hard to eat so I will be sure thank you for this..
For the frying can you use pure vegetable oil?
Yes, that’s fine!
Have you tried to make them with half flour half maseca.
I haven’t. I don’t know how it would work.
salted or unsalted butter ?????
Hi Desiree,
Either will work, but I always use unsalted in baking and cooking recipes.
Hello, my batter is soft and sticky, I was rolling it into balls to fry but the batter is sticking to my hands
It is a soft batter, not meant for rolling. Maybe you could drop it by spoonfuls into the oil but churros are made with a piping bag
is the butter salted or unsalted?
thx
These came out amazing! Thank you for the recipe. I had so much fun making and sharing these.
Fantastic to hear that, Cassie! Everybody loves a churro 😉
Hello! I’m a 2nd year college student and I am taking up the course Hotel and restaurant management. So i have a culinary subject and I was assigned to do some pastry and I chose your churros recipe. I have made it this morning and it tasted so delicious! Even my professor was amazed by the taste. Thank you so much! 🙂
So glad to hear that, Yshmaela! That brings a smile to my face 🙂
Hi! I used these for my Spanish class for our Day Of The Dead party and everyone loved them! Thank you!
Fantastic! Thanks for the churros update, Bailey!
Hi! Just wanna ask for the weight of the butter. Thanks!
Hi Renzo,
According to this calculator, it’s 70 grams http://www.traditionaloven.com/conversions_of_measures/butter_converter.html
are these like the churros from taco bell
Hi Bailey,
I think these are close to Taco Bell churros but maybe a little less crunchy?
Hi i am a ten year old girl who loves to cook and bake but i hate to clean i want you to personaly train me how to cook i know you are going to say no but it was worth a shot i made them today and they were deliciouse i made them for my class and they loved them i made 100 of them and they were all gone there were only 26 people there at the time they were crazy over them i luv your recipics hope you say yes bye
Hi Ayanna!
I’m so glad to hear you have discovered the joys of cooking and baking. Cleaning is definitely the worst part of it, though 😉
I don’t do personal lessons, but it sounds like you will have great success learning from my videos.
That is so great that your churros came out well and that your class loved them!
One more thing what will happen of you use one egg instead of two
Wonderful Recipe, turned out perfect!
Will using a cookie press work?
It very well might, Erica! Good thinking. The churro dough seems like it would be thick enough to work in a press. If you try it, let me know how it goes!
recovering from major surgery, 1 month post op and I’m getting off my but to make these. yummy
Good for you, Leela! Enjoy!
what can I use instead of sinamin
I made a plate full of churros and it very successful! My family loved it and i made at least 20-25 of it and the 3 of us finished it very fast, though my mom thought it should be a little more crispier. I’m definitely sharing this recipe! Thanks for this wonderful recipe!
That’s great, Nay Chi! 😀 Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Hi Hilah
I have made churros recently but the recipe I used did not call for eggs…they turned out great …what does adding egg do for the dough/texture/taste?
Wondering if you could form the raw Churro dough place on a cookie sheet freeze and cook at a later time as needed?
Hi Sherill!
I haven’t tasted a recipe without eggs so I can’t compare. If you try these, I’d love to hear what you think about the difference in taste/texture.
I suspect that freezing the logs of churro dough would work just fine, but again have not tried it so I can’t be sure. Great question, though!
Can we use wheat all purpose flour?
That will probably work, Suzi, but I haven’t tried it myself.
i just tried making these today. SO GOOD! thank you! 🙂
Hello,I just want to ask where to keep the dough overnight and how can we keep the churros crisspy in a long time ?.thanks and God bless
Hi Grace,
Keep the dough in the refrigerator overnight if you need to make it ahead of time.
Churros don’t stay crispy a long time. If you need to keep them for a couple of hours, you can put them on a baking sheet in a 200ºF oven to keep warm and they will stay pretty crispy. There’s not a way to keep them longer than that.
Delicious! The first time I made I ate most of them before my family could get there hands on them oops… Then I made them again today and me and my sister watched Netflix while munching on them and they were gone within minutes.They are great!
Keep it up!
Omg! I’m pregnant and was craving these. I made them and gobbled them ALL up! Thank you so much cool lady!
My choux pastry are too soft and very sticky , can u give a tips ? Can i add a little bit of flour ?
Hi Iqa,
The dough is a fairly soft dough. You can add a little more flour if it’s really soft, or try putting it in the refrigerator for a few minutes. That will make it easier to work with, too.
Hi! These look really good but I was wondering if it is compulsory to add egg in it. I have to do this for my spanish project and I can’t eat egg. Like does the egg add flavor to it and can you taste the difference without the egg?
Hi Lilly,
I have never tried to make this recipe without egg, but I have seen churro recipes without egg so you could try it. If I were you, though, I would look around for another recipe online that doesn’t have eggs.
Hi!
I am using this recipe for my office/work potluck. I only problem is this event happens in the middle of the day and the warmth of the churros will be gone. Do you have to heat it? And is there a taste difference?
Love these though!!
Hi Sydney,
The biggest concern I have is that they will be soggy. I suggest frying them in the morning before work, then coat in sugar/cinnamon and cool completely on a rack in a baking dish. Once cool, cover with a dishtowel and some foil with holes poked in it. They will not be warm but they might still be crunchy by lunch time.
I dont have to measure the temperature on the stove it just has low through high. So how do I know if its 350 degrees
Hi Meredith,
You need a deep frying or candy thermometer to check the oil temperature accurately. One trick that will tell you the oil is about 350 degrees is to put a wooden spoon into the oil and if you see bubbles form around the wood, the oil is hot enough.
Is cinnamon compulsory or can you just go with sugar?
It’s traditional, but not compulsory. They might be a little one-dimensional without it, though. If you don’t have or don’t like cinnamon I’d try some vanilla sugar or even some lemon or orange zest mixed in with the sugar. That would probably be nice.
I tried this for the first time last week but today I tried it again but I failed, it turned out thinner than the first one. Lol im not a cook though
Mine came out so thin it turned into funnel cake. It wasn’t bad but I still want churros.
Hmm, I wonder what went wrong? What size are your eggs? I always use large eggs but maybe extra-large eggs would be too much additional liquid and could account for that.
I don’t have a piping bag? is it ok for me to hand roll then and then fry them? Thanks!
Hi Sydney!
Other people have done it that way and say it works! You could also try using a heavy-duty Zipoc bag (like the freezer kind) and put the dough in that and snip the corner off to make a basic piping bag.
I´ll Need it in german. 🙂
But it is a really good recipe
I don’t usually cook and even if I do, I don’t really succeed! haha .. ANyways, but this one was such a hit! I tried it the exact same way you did, it turned out to be PERFECT!! my family loved it! 🙂 I’m looking forward to trying out more recipes from your channel soon… keep cooking! you’re too good
That’s great! Thanks, Ilham!
Loved it best easiest sweet snack ever!
Awesome!
Hi! I just had my very first taste of Churros from S&R and I thought it tasted like that cereal we used to eat when we were kids, I can’t remember the name. But I also thought it was a yeast dough because there were some characteristics of a yeast dough there but am surprised when you used a pate a choux! I also thought of that being used but I was not sure that it could be deep fried. Btw, can I use oil instead of butter? I don’t want to use butter for my pate a choux.
Hi Austin! Was it Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal?
I have never heard of making pate a choux with oil. Intuitively, it does not seem like it would work.
hey i love to cook and i was thinking of making thesse! but chucked out my deep fryer would i be able to use an air fryer
Hey Katie! I have never used an air fryer so I really have no clue. Do you still have the manual for it? If you are able to fry donuts in it, you could probably fry churros, too.
Hey,
I liked your Recipe for Churros, but what if i want to make them without eggs? won’t they taste that great? can you please help me with a recipe that does not have eggs?
Can we make the dough and keep for 2-3 days? and just keep frying when we want to eat?
I have no idea what will happen if you make this without eggs. You would be better off searching for an egg free churros recipe online.
If you make this recipe, though, you can keep the dough for a couple days as long as it’s covered tightly (press plastic wrap onto the surface) to keep it from drying out.
Easy and nice…! Good job!
P.S: You are hilarious
Hi! 🙂 Is it ok to use mixer, in mixing with those eggs?
Please reply!
xoxo
Hi, yes you can use a mixer
my daughter made these for my birthday today, they were delicious and easy to make we will be using this recipe in the future thank you for the churros and for your video.we enjoy watching you.we even told a joke about the donut and The churro so.
Aww! Happy birthday, Joann! Glad you enjoyed the churros 🙂 and the jokes 😉
Hi. I just want ask what cup you use for a water and flour? can you tell me the detail like in ml or gram? thank you!
Hi Sheng,
1 cup of water is about 240 mL
1 cup of flour is about 125 grams
Hello
Do we have to use the butter or it work without it ?
No, it will not work without butter
Hey Hilah!! I love this recipe! My family loved them, and not to brag but I’m the best cook in my family 🙂 They asked how I made them and I just told them I watched your video so thank you so much ???? ????
I found when i cooked them in oil they didnt taste very nice but i did the other half in the oven… omg it was like little bites of heavan. I kove how simple the recipe is amd hardly any washing up 🙂
Hi Yvonne,
Can you share how you cooked them in the oven? What temp and time? Thanks! Glad you liked them.
Hi hilah thanx for your recepi..the taste was amazing..love it. The smell from vanilla swing your mind..sooo good…thx from Jakarta..
Hi Hilah.
Can you tell me why…if this is a pate a choux why do the churros not stay crispy overnight. Cream puffs if not filled do stay nice overnight?
That is an excellent question, Paulette! I’d guess it’s because of the sugar, which is hydrophilic. It never occurred to me before now that if you made the churros but didn’t sugar them, they could probably be made ahead of time without getting soggy!
You’re so funny and cute! Love your recipes! Going to try some of them tonight 🙂
Hi Hilah! Thank you for the recipe and the video,, i like your joke hehe,, and tonight is my first try this recipe and my husband totally love it.. Thanks,, wanna try another recipe,,
Hi! i was wondering if you have to have use the FryDaddy or you can just use a pot.
You can use a deep pot
Great recipe!
I made your churros they were amizing
I’m planning on making this batter ahead of time. After refrigerating the batter do you have to pull it out of the fridge early and let it come to room temperature before frying?
Hi PP! No, you can fry it cold straight from the fridge. It will be quite firm and take some hand strength to squeeze it out. Definitely recommend using a real piping bag and not a ziploc bag if you are piping cold churros dough.
Dear Hilah,
I was LOLling at your churro joke
Love this recipe so much (I gained 7lbs this week oops!!!– my doctor is really angry at me)
BEST RECIPE EVER!!!
Heehee! So glad to hear, Patsy! About the joke and the churros, not that you are in trouble with your doctor 😉
hello! i was wondering if this would as well as the butter as it would oil. can you use oil instead of butter or will it mess up everything? thank you!
Hi Olivia! I’m not sure. I think it would work but I have not tried it
Can i use vegtable oil instead of butter
Yes, I think that will work
I was really excited to make your churro but when I was making the dough it was very thin and I didn’the know what to do. Do have any tips?
Hi Gabby,
I’ve not had this happen to me in the dozens of times I’ve made them so I’m not sure what could have happened. Did you try refrigerating the dough and then piping it?
Followed the recepie and it was delicious. Thank you.
Glad to hear that, Henry!
Awesome recipe Hilah! But could I get the measurements in grams and liters that would be really helpful…
I’ve just tried them 5 minutes ago, and they were the best churros I’ve ever eaten!
I added a little bit of flour and a pinch of cinnamon in the dough. The churros came out crispy on the outside and fluffy and light in the inside, they were literally melting in my mouth!
I also dipped them in dulce de leche instead of coating them with sugar and cinnamon. Definitely the best recipe!!! Thank you for sharing it.
Best wishes from Italy
I’m so glad to hear it, Leslie! Thank you for writing 🙂
So I tried this the thing is I’m not sure if it’s just me, but they tasted too much like egg so I left them in a paper bag. The next day I tasted one and they were amazing not so eggy anymore wonder why ?!
Hi Hilah,
I absolutely loved this recipe. I had to cook mine a little longer they seemed raw in the middle but the outside was nice and hard. Is it normal for them to be a little soft in the middle still? I only had extra large eggs I was wondering if they could have made a difference. Thank you !
Hi Korie!
They are sometimes a little soft inside. It might have been a little more noticeable from using xl eggs. Next time, you can lower the heat a few degrees and cook them a little longer to get them more done in the centers. Glad you liked the churros!
I was craving churros and did not want to make the long drive the local Mexican restaurant. Only thing to do is search the internet. Thank goodness for your blog. The recipe was easy to follow and the churros came out delicious. Thank you
Yay! So glad to hear that, Niquedt!
Delish! In my opinion, churros are best enjoyed with a warm chocolate dipping sauce, as they do in Spain. It’s pretty simple to make one yourself by heating some cream and stirring in chocolate chips. (Dark are my favorite, but I know some people prefer milk, and that’s fine, too!)
Can I use coconut sugar ?
Yes, as long as it is granulated
Soooo good
Can I use caramel essens instead of vannila essens and can i half the ingrediants or should i use the ingrediants there
Yes you can flavor these with whatever you like. Not sure about cutting it in half. I suppose it would work, though.
I kind of eye balled my ingredients (I lost the measuring cups ) the dough cane out good but their hard on the outside , any suggestions
Pretty hard to say. If they’re hard after you cooked them, I’d guess you cooked them too long?
Hey! I was just wondering how much ingredients I would need to make 24 churros?
This recipe makes 20-24 churros.
I just made this this afternoon for a lunchtime snack and it was amazing! I used my Wilton 1M tip as I didn’t have the 4B and it was the closest alternative. I will probably stick to the 1M tip as it looks to give more of the deep ridges that I love. I also halved this recipe and it worked really well. I was surprised at how quick it took me to make the actual batter. Most of the time making this was spent by the oil so all in all, very simple! I am definitely saving this for when I have another craving for churros!
“The churro dough is basically a choux pastry (or paté a choux) which is the same used to make gougeres and eclairs. The difference is that instead of being baked, it is fried in this case.” Pate a choux is fired as well. 2 quick examples are: (1) Pommes Dauphine are crispy little potato puffs made by mixing mashed potatoes with choux puff and then deep-frying. (2) pets de nonne (or more vulgarly nun’s farts). Pate a choux is only bland because you did not flavor it. Pets de Nonne have orange and rum added and are quite flavorful. https://www.simplefrenchcooking.com/recipe-entry/choux-paste?rq=choux