If you are looking for an authentic churros recipe, then you have come to the right place! These churros Mexicanos are light, golden and crispy fried pastries dusted with sugar and cinnamon powder. Sounds delicious, am I right? Luckily, this is an 'easy-to-follow recipe!
Do you like fried dough and sugar? Then, you will probably like churros Mexicanos!
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If you are asking yourself, "What are churros?" I'll tell you all about them. Churros are long sticks of dough that are fried and dusted with sugar. Sometimes, you'll find them dusted with cinnamon instead- or even filled with chocolate or dulce de leche.Churros have to be one of my favorite desserts to eat and make for my whole family!
The History Behind Churros
Many people tend to wonder where churros originated. For example, are churros Mexican or Spanish?
The churro that we know today hails from Spain, but the frying dough technique originated in China and was 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.
Where To Find Churros Mexicanos In Mexico And The US
In Mexico, we find them sold by street vendors in places like shopping centers, municipal markets, or the town fair. We also can get them at many Mexican bakeries and on the menus of some restaurants. Additionally, there are the “churrerías”,shops that only sell churros. (and sometimes other fried pastries). (and sometimes other fried pastries).
One of the most popular places to eat churros in Mexico City is the Churreria "El Moro", a business that was founded in 1935 by brothers Francisco y José Iriarte. Nowadays, there are several Churrerias "El Moro around the city and the State of Mexico.
Here in the states, we can find them in Latin stores and Hispanic restaurants in cities with a large Mexican population.
Most people I have met, whether here or in Mexico, love these Mexican churros!
Frequently Asked Questions About Mexican Churros
Before I share my recipe, here are a few questions people usually ask me about homemade churros.
What do churros taste like?
Churros taste like a freshly fried sugary donut but better. Made of dough, fried, and sprinkle with sugar or cinnamon and sugar mixture, this dessert is crunchy on the outside. Sometimes the inside contains chocolate, dulce de leche, or sweet jelly.
What are the most common toppings on a churro?
Wherever you find them, the most common topping for them is plain white sugar. Some vendors add a teaspoon of ground cinnamon to make a “cinnamon sugar mixture ”, but the most common topping is white sugar by itself.
Besides being dusted with sugar, churros can also have various fillings. The first popular filling was chocolate, followed by Cajeta / caramel sauce (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.
What kind of dough do you use to make churros?
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 this Mexican dessert out there, including one that appears very often in vintage cooking books that do not use eggs.
The eggless 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.
What are traditional churros made of?
Traditional Churros only have a few ingredients like all-purpose flour, eggs, water, and some sort of fat like oil, margarine, or butter.
The recipe is essentially a choux dough, but there are many recipe variations for this Mexican dessert, including one that appears very often in vintage cooking books that do not use eggs.
The eggless recipe only uses flour, water, and a pinch of salt. Some old recipe books, like the one from Maria A. de Carbia (Circa 1952), don’t even include salt in the recipe. Simply flour and water, fried in hot oil, and dusted with sugar.
How do I make the perfect churro?
Many people try to use of an elaborate recipe but always end up with weird or not fully cooked churros.
But what is the issue with this simple recipe? In my opinion, simplicity is key!
When making churros (or any baked good), it's essential to pay close attention to the recipe and ingredients. Many home cooks (and even some professional chefs) end up with a dessert that explodes 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 hard to work with if you do not use a proper churro machine.
Small details make all the difference, and they can keep you from making the perfect churro.
What supplies do I need to make these at home?
To make this fried dessert 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).
You can buy a churro gun 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).
Can churros 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 temperatures, but they always come out dry and don’t taste as good as freshly made ones.
If you really want to make them ahead of time, I’d recommend taking them out of the oil before they’re fully cooked so that they can continue to cook in the oven whenever you reheat them. Also, remember not to dust the churros with sugar until you’re ready to serve them (If they have sugar when baking 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 this dessert.
The dough needs to be very soft before use; otherwise, the churros will be raw inside.
How To Stored Churros
Like most baked and deep-fried desserts, this crunchy dessert is better to preserve in an airtight container. Remember that this crunchy sweet is better to be consumed right after making, and with time it will lose its crunchiness.
How to make churros mexicano recipe
Here is the list of ingredients you will need:
- Water
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
- Butter
- Flour
- Large egg
- Vegetable oil
- Sugar
- Ground cinnamon (optional)
Please note: For exact measurements of the ingredients listed above, scroll down to the recipe card located at the bottom of this post!
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Cooking Tips:
- Prepare a tray or plate covered with a paper towel to place the churros on after frying.
- Mix the sugar and cinnamon and place the mixture in a shallow dish to coat the churros.
- You can either squeeze the dough 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 oil temperature, but you can also use a candy thermometer.
- The best oil for frying the dough is canola or vegetable oil.
How To Make Churros: Step by Step Tutorial
To make things easier for you, I will break down the directions to this recipe into sections.
Make The Churro Dough
First things first. Place your frying oil in a deep pot or deep fryer and preheat to 320 degrees F while you make the churro dough. You can use a candy thermometer to check the temperature.
- While the oil is heating up, 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 sifted flour all at once. It is very important that the water is boiling to ensure that the batter 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.
- You can place the dough in a mixing bowl for a few minutes to let it cool off.
Prep The Pastry Bag
- Place the dough in the pastry bag/ piping bag fitted with a star tip. Make sure there aren’t any air bubbles in the dough while you place it inside the bag.
Pipe The Churros and Cook
- Pipe 6-inch strips of dough on a prepared tray and then fry them (see notes). You can also pipe the strips of dough in small batches 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 in the hot oil until golden brown (in total, it should take 4-5 minutes to cook each churro), and then turn the churros to have even crispiness and golden color.
Eat And Enjoy!
- Once they are golden, remove them from the heat, place them on the paper towel to drain the excess oil for a few seconds, and then roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture.
I hope you enjoy your crispy churros!
What To Serve With Churros
When I serve this Mexican dessert recipe, I like to make some cafe de olla to go with it! I also like to serve it with a chocolate sauce or dulce de leche to dip it in.
More Dessert Recipes To Enjoy
If you enjoyed this recipe for churros, take a look at some of these other authentic Mexican recipes:
I hope you make this recipe for Mexican churros! If this recipe was of any help to you, come back to let me know your experience. Please leave us a comment below and tell us all about it!
¡Buen provecho!
Mely,
For more recipes, follow Us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. in español Visit Us at Mexico en mi cocina
📖 Recipe
Churros Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup of water
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- ⅛ 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
Instructions
Please read all the notes and instructions before you start cooking. It is very important in order to have great results.
- Make the Churro Dough. 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.
- Prep de Pastry Bag. 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.
- Pipe and Cook. Fry the churros for about 2 to 2.5 minutes in hot oil ( 320degrees F) 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!
Notes
- *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.
Cindy F
Delicious! Thank you for a great recipe that we hope to make again
Joan R.
The dough was a little hard but it was my fault, added a little bit more flour to fix it, and they came out prefect.
Vianey C
Hello! Absolutely wonderful recipe. I was wanting to know if you could tell me where you purchased the mugs and dishes shown in the plated churro photo in this article? My mother really loves the blue mugs and is interested in finding some. Thank you!
Mely Martínez
Hello Vianey,
I purchased them at a Local Latin store in Dallas.