These easy homemade churros are to die for and are the perfect dessert! They are soft and tender on the inside and crispy on the outside.
Other Cinco de Mayo desserts we love include this tres leches cake recipe, Mexican rice pudding and churro cupcakes!
Table of Contents
Easy Churros Recipe
I love anything filled with cinnamon sugar. It’s one of the best flavor combinations and tastes so delicious! If you love homemade churros, you’ll also love my dessert cinnamon crescent rolls, monkey bread, cinnamon swirl quick bread, and cinnamon roll sugar cookies.
Churros are one of my absolute favorite desserts, except when I am making a sopapilla or my beignets recipe! The fried pastry dough topped with the delicious cinnamon sugar mixture is the perfect pair, add a glass of horchata and I am in heaven!
Ingredients
It doesn’t take many ingredients to make this easy churros recipe. All of the ingredients are fridge and pantry staples.
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- Butter: Room temperature butter is soft and easily helps the mixture form.
- Salt: Helps balance the flavors.
- Flour: All-purpose flour thickens the churro dough.
- Eggs: This is the binder that holds the churro dough together.
- Oil: Heat vegetable oil for cooking the churros in small batches. The hot oil will help cook the churros on the outside leaving the inside nice and soft.
- Cinnamon and sugar: The blend of cinnamon and sugar is a sweet and savory taste that is perfect for this dessert!
How to Make Churros
This recipe because is so simple to whip up at home! Soon you will be enjoying this popular Mexican dessert that tastes just like the one you would get at a carnival, street fair or even Costco.
- Make the pastry dough. You start with a very simple pastry dough that comes together in just a few minutes. Using a wooden spoon, mix all the ingredients.
- Scoop dough. When it is mixed, transfer dough into a pastry bag with a large open star tip and then you’re ready to make the homemade churros!
- Heat oil. While you’re mixing the dough, heat your oil in large pot or deep fryer to 365°F. Pipe 6-inch pieces of dough into the oil and let them cook for a minute or two on each side.
- Pastry bag. Use a pastry bag and star tip to make this churros recipe. You could just use a plastic baggie with the corner snipped off. But I think the pastry bag and open-star tip approach has a lot going for it. Not only does it make them extra pretty with the classic churro shape, but it also makes the whole process tidy and super easy!
- Roll in cinnamon sugar. Then let them drain on some paper towels. Once they’ve drained for a minute, roll them in cinnamon sugar and you’re done!
- Rest and serve. Let them rest on wire racks to help cool them and let the extra sugar fall off.
Tips for the Best Churros
- After combining the dough, you’ll know it is ready when you pull up the mixing spoon and the dough forms a thick ribbon.
- Use scissors or a knife to get the dough to detach from the pastry bag if it seems stuck.
- When piping aim for strips of dough that are 6 inches long. If they are too long they become hard to flip.
- I find a candy thermometer is really helpful to ensure oil is heated to the correct temperature before frying the churro as well as to monitor for subsequent batches.
- Watch the color of the churros while frying. This is the best indicator that they are done. They should be golden brown in color.
Recipe FAQs
They are made with a choux pastry. This means it is paste-looking dough that puffs up when baked or fried.
It depends on your preference for frying or baking churros. Normally, churros are deep-fried in oil like a funnel cake but can also be baked or even use in an air fryer.
Usually this happens because the oil was not hot enough when the dough was piped into it. If the oil isn’t hot enough, the dough sits and soaks up excess oil while it waits to get hot resulting in soft and soggy churro.
While these are best enjoyed fresh, you can store them in an airtight container lined with paper towel or brown paper bag at room temperature for up to 3 days. I would avoid refrigerating them as they will turn soggy.
You can also freeze them. Cool completely then place in an airtight freezer bag for up to three months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and use the air fry to crisp them again.
Serving Churros
My favorite way to serve them is with some raspberry sauce or chocolate dip. Tart raspberries our chocolate makes a dipping sauce that is a delicious contrast with the sweet, simple churros.
A few other favorite sauces include:
- Strawberry sauce – perfect for berry season
- Blueberry sauce – fun and fruity treat
- Hot fudge sauce or chocolate ganache – thin chocolate sauce with heavy cream and serve warm
- Caramel sauce – a salted caramel balances the sweet taste, you could use dulce de leche
5 star review
“This was absolutely amazing. My kids loved them and said they taste better than the ones they make in Disney Florida! And it was too easy. The surprised look on the kids’ faces was priceless!“
-Iman
Other dessert recipes to try include Mexican wedding cookies, apple fritters and Mickey Mouse beignets.
More Craveable Recipes
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Homemade Churros
Video
Ingredients
For the Churros:
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup butter , cut into pieces
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 eggs
- oil for frying , I used canola oil
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1-2 teaspoons ground cinnamon , more or less to taste
For serving: hot fudge, caramel or raspberry sauce
Instructions
Churros;
- Add the water, butter and salt to a medium saucepan and heat over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until the butter is melted. Remove from heat. Add the flour all at once and stir to form a dough. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring well after each addition, until the dough is smooth. Scoop the mixture into a sturdy piping bag fitted with a large open star tip (Wilton 1M or ateco 845).
- Heat the oil in a pot over medium-heat until it reaches 365°F. While you’re waiting for the oil to heat, prepare an area to drain the churros. I usually use a cooling rack lined with paper towels.
- Mix together the sugar and cinnamon in a shallow dish and set aside.
- Carefully pipe 6-inch lengths of dough into the oil (snip it off with kitchen scisors), being careful not to crowd the pot. Let cook 2 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Remove to a paper towel lined plate and let drain for 1-2 minutes. Then roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
Originally written by Alicia from The Baker Upstairs for I Heart Naptime.
Categorized as: Cinco De Mayo, Desserts, Mexican, Nut-Free, Stovetop, Vegetarian
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is also the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook. Here you will find easy family-friendly recipes for every occasion.
These were incredible! They were so easy to make, my kids helped. We all enjoyed them so much!
First time making these and we are in love! Easier than I thought and just fabulous.
These were so good! My whole family loved them! Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Does the recipe call for salted or unsalted butter?
Unsalted butter :)
These turned out incredibly good! We dipped them in some chocolate ganache which was perfect!
Sounds delicious! :)
I made these with my kids after school yesterday and we all loved them! So easy and delicious!
Oh, man..these are so addicting & delicious!! My kids will love helping me make these!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! :)
The BEST easy homemade churros! My kids love these! :)
I am obsessed with these! So delicious!