Homemade Churros

This easy churros recipe yields irresistibly light, crispy fried pastries with the perfect chew. These hot fluted sticks are tossed in cinnamon and sugar for a quick and easy sweet treat.

Eyes grow wide, and cravings kick in when churros are in sight. Hot, crispy fried dough generously coated in sugar and cinnamon is a winning combination. This popular snack can be found freshly fried by street vendors, at bustling sporting events, and major theme parks. This sweet treat is like a sugar donut but in stick form.

Learning how to make churros from scratch is easy with impressive results. The dough comes together quickly, cooking it briefly on the stovetop and then incorporating the eggs. Each piece is piped into hot oil until expanded and crunchy. I’ll warn you, once you have one, you’ll sacrifice burnt fingertips for another taste!

The key ingredients for a great churro

The churro dough is based on French pâte à choux (or choux pastry), which consists of flour, sugar, water, butter, and eggs. This combination creates a light, crunchy exterior and nearly hollow centers. While good for cream puffs, it’s not great for heartier churros.

To add more bready thickness inside, I slightly increase the flour and reduce the eggs and butter to give that characteristic churro chew. For this recipe, I add some vanilla and ground cinnamon to the mixture to enhance the sweet notes of the plain dough.

Cooking the flour

A unique step to making this dough is cooking the flour mixture on the stovetop for several minutes. Bring the water, salt, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon to a boil, then add the flour and cook in the saucepan over medium heat. Make sure to stir constantly to prevent burning.

This process effectively breaks down the starch in the wheat, making it easier for the flour to absorb the liquid. This keeps the fried dough tender, increases gluten formation for structure, and makes a stiffer paste.

Once this step is complete, remove the dough from heat and cool to below 130ºF (54ºC) before adding the eggs. The egg proteins will solidify or scramble when heated above 144ºF (62ºC). We want to keep it rich and liquified.

How flour impacts the texture

Flour gives the churro its structure and shape. The flour granules are coated with the fat from butter to inhibit some gluten formation, but not all. I increased the typical amount of flour in my choux pastry recipe by 25% to ensure the creation of stunning ridges on the exterior and to provide bread-like consistency when bitten.

The dough should be firm enough to control when piping out of the bag, so much so that you must cut it with scissors. If the dough is too runny or soft, chill before using it to help firm up the butter.

Eggs like to expand

Eggs keep the texture light, the center slightly custardy, and provide volume when heated. Eggs are natural leavening agents that give rise and puff to this fried pastry. I tested out various amounts of eggs and saw noticeable differences in the churro size, specifically the diameter.

I find two large eggs to be perfect. The dough expands to about double its size and has some bounce when chewed, but it also keeps a nice uniform fluted appearance.

Creating the fluted shape

You need two things to make churros look like they were store-bought or at least expertly made; a piping bag fitted with a large star-shaped tip. I use the Ateco 824 star tip size. The fluted edges have a larger surface area, creating more crispy facets. The pleats also allow for the fried dough to expand more. You can use smaller tips, but it will cook faster and is better for mini-churro bites.

I tested a round tip, and although edible, they aren’t as pretty and cause issues. Churros have more chances of exploding when round in shape because the outside cooks quicker and hardens, while the inside is still expanding and might crack, especially if the oil is too hot.

The pot size affects the shape

The vessel for frying can be a cast iron skillet, a large pot like a Dutch oven, or a saucepan if you want longer churros. A shallow skillet gives straighter sticks because you can pipe it parallel to the pan, and multiple pieces stay closer together, so there’s less curling.

You want to add enough oil to the pot so the dough doesn’t touch the bottom. It needs to be able to swim in the hot grease easily.

Frying the churros

The ideal temperature range to fry the churros is 350 to 360ºF (177 to 182ºC). This allows the surface to gradually deepen the color and the inside to cook thoroughly. If the temperature climbs too high, the interior will taste raw.

Carefully pipe the dough into the hot oil in the desired strip length, and quickly cut it off with kitchen shears (this gives that nice blunt edge). Fry until deep golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. The middle is not a fully solid bread core. The egg will keep it moist, with pockets of dough.

Drain then coat

Let the cooked churros slightly cool down for the best texture. The pastries should be drained on paper towels to remove the excess oil on the surface. Wait for at least 5 to 10 minutes before tossing in the sugar. This allows the dough to finish cooking in the center due to carryover cooking.

Reheating and freezing

If you’re making a big batch of churros, you can keep them crisp by warming them in a 350ºF (177ºC) oven for about 5 minutes before serving. They also freeze very well, with or without the sugar coating. Store them in a resealable plastic bag once cooled down, then reheat them for about 10 minutes in the oven.

What to serve with churros

• Freshly whipped cream
• Melted chocolate dipping sauce
• Warm berry sauce
• Homemade caramel sauce
• Add some pumpkin spice to the cinnamon-sugar mixture for a fall-flavored treat.
• A glass of hot chocolate, coffee, or horchata.