Crispy Mexican Churros Recipe
Churros are a golden and crispy fried pastries dusted with sugar and cinnamon powder. This is an easy to follow recipe. Enjoy them today!
Many people wonder where churros come from originally. The churro that we know today hails from Spain, but the technique of frying dough is believed to have originated in China, and introduced to the Iberian Peninsula by Portuguese sailors. After this, the tradition of churros and other similar fried pastries made their way to the Spanish and Portuguese colonies in America.
Churros are long sticks of dough that are fried and dusted with sugar.
In Mexico, churros are sold by street vendors in places like shopping centers, municipal markets, or the town fair. Churros can also be found at many Mexican bakeries and on the menus of some restaurants. Additionally, there are the “churrerías”, which are shops dedicated to selling churros (and sometimes other fried pastries). Here in the States, churros can be found in cities with a large Mexican population, where they are sold in Latin stores and in some restaurants.
Wherever you find churros, the most common topping for them is plain white sugar. Some vendors add a little bit of ground cinnamon to make “cinnamon sugar”, but the most common topping is white sugar by itself. Besides being dusted with sugar, churros can also be found stuffed with a variety of fillings. The first popular filling was chocolate, followed by Cajeta (or other forms of dulce de leche) and strawberry jam. Nowadays, you can find some places that sell churros filled with vanilla pastry cream, condensed milk, Rompope, and jams ranging from blackberry to guava.
The dough used to make churros is made out of all-purpose flour, eggs, water, and some sort of fat like oil, margarine or butter. This is essentially a choux dough, but there are many recipe variations for churros out there, including one that appears very often in vintage cooking books that does not use eggs.
The eggless churro recipe only uses flour, water, and a pinch of salt. There are some old recipes books, like the one from Maria A. de Carbia (Circa 1952), that don’t even include salt in the recipe. Simply flour and water, fried in hot oil, and dusted with sugar.
Even today, many people still claim this to be the authentic Mexican Churro recipe. But what is the issue with this simple recipe? It is not easy to make, and requires some expertise to prepare. Many home cooks (and even some professional chefs) end up with churros that explode if the recipe is not well prepared. You need to have a well-mixed dough, the oil has to be at the right temperature, and you have to avoid touching churros or the oil while it is bubbling, or your churros will explode. Additionally, the dough is a little bit hard to work with if you are not using a proper churro machine.
To make the churros at home, you will need a pastry bag and a star-shaped tip. You can buy this set on Amazon, which includes several bags and tips (I use the “1M” tip). There is also a churro gun you can buy which is quite fun to use, but given the price, it’s only worth the investment if you plan to make a lot of churros (or make churros frequently).
Now, to answer some of the more common questions you may have about churros:
“Can they be made ahead of time?”
Yes, they can be made ahead of time, but this brings us to another question:
“How do you reheat churros?”
I’ve tried reheating churros in the oven at low temperature, but they come out dry, and don’t taste as nearly good as freshly made ones. If you really want to make them ahead of time, I’d recommend taking out of the oil before they’re fully cooked, so that they can continue to cook in the oven whenever you reheat them. Remember to not dust the churros with sugar until you’re ready to serve them (if your churros have sugar when in the oven, it’ll melt and turn into syrup).
“Can you make the dough in advance?”
You can make the dough in advance and store it in the fridge (the dough will keep for up to 2 days in the fridge), just make sure to bring it to room temperature before using it to make the churros. The dough needs to be very soft before using, otherwise, the churros will be raw inside.
How to make Churros Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of water
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 2 tbsp. Butter
- 1 cup of flour, sifted at least 2 times. (140 grams)
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 2½ cups vegetable oil, for frying the churros
- Sugar to dust
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon (Optional)
NOTES TO CONSIDER BEFORE COOKING THE CHURROS:
- *Prepare a tray or plate covered with paper towel to place the churros on after frying.
- * Mix the sugar and cinnamon and place it in a shallow dish to coat the churros.
- *You can either squeeze the churros from the pastry bag directly into the hot oil or form them first and place them on a tray lined with parchment paper before frying, as you see in the photos.
- * I used a laser thermometer to check the temperature of the oil, but you can also use a candy thermometer.
- * The best choice of oil for frying the churros is canola or vegetable oil.
DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO MAKE CHURROS
Please read all the notes and instructions before you start cooking. It is very important in order to have great results.
- Preheat the oil at 320 F degrees while you make the churro batter. You can use a candy thermometer to check the temperature.
- Place the water, vanilla extract, salt, and butter in a saucepan at medium- high heat.
- Once it comes to a rolling boil, stir in the flour all at once. It is very important that the water is boiling to ensure that the dough will render crispy churros.
- Mix the dough vigorously using a wooden spoon or spatula. You have to do this step very quickly.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat, wait about a minute, then add the egg. Keep mixing until the egg is completely integrated into the dough (you can use a mixer for this step). In the beginning, the dough will want to separate after adding the egg, but keep mixing until the ingredients are well combined and you have a smooth and soft dough that separates from the bottom of the pot. This step will take a few minutes.
- Place the dough in the pastry bag fitted with a star-shaped tip. Make sure there aren’t any bubbles of air in the dough while you place it inside the bag.
- Pipe 6-inch strips of dough on a prepared tray and then fry them (see notes). You can also pipe the strips of dough directly into the hot oil, cutting them with your kitchen scissors. The oil will start bubbling when you add the raw churro, and at this point you must not touch the oil or the churro, to avoid having an explosion.
- Fry the churros for about 2 to 2.5 minutes until golden brown (in total it should take 4-5 minutes to cook each churro), and then turn the churros to have an even crispiness and golden color.
- Once they are golden, remove from the heat, place on the paper towel to drain for a few seconds, and then roll in the sugar.
I hope you enjoy your Crispy Churros!
Churros are a golden and crispy fried pastries dusted with sugar and cinnamon powder. This is an easy to follow recipe. Enjoy them today!
- 1 cup of water
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 2 tbsp. Butter
- 1 cup of flour sifted at least 2 times. (140 grams)
- 1 large egg beaten
- 2½ cups vegetable oil for frying the churros
- Sugar to dust
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon Optional
-
Preheat the oil at 320F degrees while you make the churro batter. You can use a candy thermometer to check the temperature.
-
Place the water, vanilla extract, salt, and butter in a saucepan at medium- high heat.
-
Once it comes to a rolling boil, stir in the flour all at once. It is very important that the water is boiling to ensure that the dough will render crispy churros.
-
Mix the dough vigorously using a wooden spoon or spatula. You have to do this step very quickly.
-
Remove the saucepan from the heat, wait about a minute, then add the egg. Keep mixing until the egg is completely integrated into the dough (you can use a mixer for this step). In the beginning, the dough will want to separate after adding the egg, but keep mixing until the ingredients are well combined and you have a smooth and soft dough that separates from the bottom of the pot. This step will take a few minutes.
-
Place the dough in the pastry bag fitted with a star-shaped tip. Make sure there aren’t any bubbles of air in the dough while you place it inside the bag.
-
Pipe 6-inch strips of dough on a prepared tray and then fry them (see notes). You can also pipe the strips of dough directly into the hot oil, cutting them with your kitchen scissors. The oil will start bubbling when you add the raw churro, and at this point you must not touch the oil or the churro, to avoid having an explosion.
-
Fry the churros for about 2 to 2.5 minutes until golden brown (in total it should take 4-5 minutes to cook each churro), and then turn the churros to have an even crispiness and golden color.
-
Once they are golden, remove from the heat, place on the paper towel to drain for a few seconds, and then roll in the sugar.
- *Prepare a tray or plate covered with paper towel to place the churros on after frying.
- * Mix the sugar and cinnamon and place it in a shallow dish to coat the churros.
- *You can either squeeze the churros from the pastry bag directly into the hot oil or form them first and place them on a tray lined with parchment paper before frying, as you see in the photos.
- * I used a laser thermometer to check the temperature of the oil, but you can also use a candy thermometer.
- * The best choice of oil for frying the churros is canola or vegetable oil.
If you like our recipes follow us on Instagram @mexicoinmykitchen
I didn’t see what temperature the oil should be, only to use the thermometer to make sure it’s the right temp. Could you tell me what it needs to be so I can make these delicious churro’s.
Hello Tracy, Thank you for catching that. It’s 320 F degrees. You have to adjust it everytime you place a new batch of churros, the oil’s temperature lowers after you place them. if you see that you churros are getting too brown around the edges too soon, lower the heat.
how do you store them to prevent them from hardening or getting soggy?
I place them in a plastic container and store in my pantry. But, without dusting them with sugar. And, only for 1- 2 days. I wrote a note about it above.