Homemade Churros are coated in a sweet cinnamon-sugar mixture and are perfectly crisp on the outside while remaining tender on the inside! Easily made with pantry staple ingredients!
If you love making fair food year-round at home as much as I do, then you’ll also enjoy these Funnel Cakes (Just Like The Fair) and Easy Homemade Caramel Apples!
Homemade Churros are a Mexican-inspired sweet fried dough treat that people everywhere can’t get enough of! They’re great for snacking on at home during movie night, serving at parties, or perfect if you’re throwing a carnival-themed birthday party!
Mostly I just enjoy them whenever I start craving the popular Disney and State Fair treat since they’re incredibly easy to make right at home!
Why I Love This Recipe!
- Quick Treat! Fresh, warm Churros taste amazing and are ready in just 40 minutes! That’s way quicker than waiting for your next Disney trip or for the Fair to come to town!
- Feeds A Crowd! Depending on how long you make the Churros there should be plenty to go around! If not, it’s super simple to just double the recipe!
- Easy Ingredients! This recipe has an ingredients list that likely won’t require you to run to the store!
- Dipping Sauces! Enjoy your Churros plain or dipped in Homemade Chocolate Sauce or Slow Cooker Dulce de leche Caramel Sauce!
Ingredient Notes
For some, having this Homemade Churros Recipe might not be a good idea since it uses ingredients we all likely have on hand. Meaning you’ll be making them constantly!
To make the Churro dough you’ll need water, granulated sugar, salt, salted butter, vanilla extract, all-purpose flour, and an egg. Once the dough is made you’ll pipe long ropes into vegetable oil to deep-fry them to delicious perfection!
This dough is very thick so you will need a sturdy pastry bag like this one fitted with a large star tip to pipe the mixture into the hot oil. Using a plastic baggie or a thin disposable piping bag will likely result in breaking so a silicone piping bag really is the best choice here.
Right after they’re done frying they get rolled in their sweet coating. This is made with just two ingredients: cinnamon and sugar.
How To Make Homemade Churros
- Whisk together the granulated sugar and cinnamon and place the mixture into a shallow bowl or medium-sized casserole dish.
- Combine the water, granulated sugar, salt, and butter into a large pot and boil over medium-high heat. Turn off the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
- Stir in the flour with a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth and has thickened. Transfer the thickened batter to a large bowl and let it cool.
- Heat oil until a candy thermometer reads that the vegetable oil temperature is between 350 – 360 degrees F.
- Beat the egg into the cooled batter. Then place the batter into a piping bag.
- Carefully Pipe churros into long strips right into the hot oil, using scissors to cut the batter off from the piping bag. Deep fry a few churros at a time, being sure both sides become golden brown.
- Remove them from the oil, roll each one onto paper towels to drain, and then place them into the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Once the churros are completely coated place them on a cooling rack.
- Enjoy them while warm with caramel or chocolate dipping sauce or plain!
Frequently Asked Questions
How To Store
Line an airtight container with paper towels and place the Churros inside, this will prevent them from getting soggy. Then store them at room temperature for up to 2 days.
You can also freeze the Churros for up to a month. Thaw them at room temperature before placing them in the oven for 10 minutes at 350 degrees F.
Substitutions
- White Sugar – Swap out for the same amount of brown sugar if needed.
- All-purpose Flour – Only substitute up to half of the all-purpose flour for whole wheat flour if you’d like. Making it 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour and 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour.
What Other Oils Can I Use To Deep-Fry The Churros?
You can use any oil that’s suited for high heat such as peanut oil, soybean oil, or sunflower oil.
How Can I Easily Remove The Churros From The Hot Oil?
I find using tongs works best but you can also try using a slotted spoon.
I love that Churros are an easy hand-held treat that we can all enjoy without digging out tons of plates, spatulas, and forks! Here are more of my favorite hand-held desserts that will disappear as quickly as these Churros!
- Blueberry Hand Pies – Easily made in just 30 minutes using store-bought refrigerated pie crust and canned blueberry pie filling!
- Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes – Boxed cupcake mix gets baked inside ice cream cones and then frosted with homemade buttercream frosting!
- Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies – Thick, chewy cookies loaded with milk and semi-sweet chocolate chips!
- Classic Maine Whoopie Pies – Sweet vanilla marshmallow filling gets sandwiched between tender chocolate cakes!
- Rice Krispie Treats – Make this classic treat that everyone loves right at home!
Let’s Connect!
If you’ve tried this recipe, please let me know how you liked it in the comments below and leave a review. I love hearing from you!
Don’t forget to tag me – @sugarandsoulco – on Instagram and Pinterest with your photos or join our Sugar & Soul Show-offs Community and share them there, where you can join our recipe challenges!
Homemade Churros
Ingredients
Coating
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
Dough
- 1 cup water
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 5 Tablespoons salted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 large egg
- 4-6 cups vegetable oil for frying
For Serving
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the ½ cup of granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon. Pour into a medium baking dish and set aside.½ cup granulated sugar, 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
- Prepare the batter by adding water, granulated sugar, salt, and butter into a large saucepan. Bring to a boil of medium-high heat.1 cup water, 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, 5 Tablespoons salted butter
- Once boiling, turn off the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Then stir in the flour using a wooden spoon for 1 minute until the dough is thick and smooth.1 cup all-purpose flour
- Transfer the batter to a large bowl and allow it to cool for at least 10 minutes.
- While the batter is cooling, pour the oil into a large heavy-bottomed pot to use for deep frying. You want the oil to be about 2 inches deep. I highly recommend starting your oil on medium heat and using a candy thermometer to check the temperature to make sure it heats to around 350 – 360°F. This is important because if the oil gets too hot, you will quickly fry the outside of the churro but the inside will not cook fully and you will end up with a burnt outside and gooey, undercooked middle.4-6 cups vegetable oil
- Place a paper towel on a plate next to the pot for draining the churros later.
- Once the batter has cooled some, use a hand mixer to beat the egg into the batter until fully incorporated. Begin beating as soon as you put the egg in to prevent it from cooking.1 large egg
- Transfer the mixture to a piping bag with a large star or flower tip. You need to have a sturdy piping bag for this. I don’t recommend using a plastic baggie or thin disposable piping bags. The batter is almost the consistency of play-doh, it's very thick so it will easily bust a thin piping bag when trying to push the batter through the piping tip. A reusable, silicone piping bag is really best, promise, I learned the hard way.)
- Pipe churros into 4 to 5-inch long ropes, directly into the hot oil, using kitchen shears to cut the batter from the piping tip.
- Fry a few churros at a time but do not crowd them. It should take about 5 minutes to fully cook them but they float to the top of the oil once you pipe them in so turn them at 2.5 minutes to allow both sides to become golden brown.
- As you remove each churro from the oil, roll it quickly on the paper towel. Then place it in the cinnamon-sugar mixture, toss to coat, and place it on a cooling rack.
- Best when warm, so serve right away! They are delicious plain but it never hurts to dip them in chocolate or caramel sauce!Caramel sauce, Chocolate sauce
Notes
- How To Store: Line an airtight container with paper towels and place the Churros inside, this will prevent them from getting soggy. Then store them at room temperature for up to 2 days. You can also freeze the Churros for up to a month. Thaw them at room temperature before placing them in the oven for 10 minutes at 350 degrees F.
- What Other Oils Can I Use To Deep-Fry The Churros? You can use any oil that’s suited for high heat such as peanut oil, soybean oil, or sunflower oil.
- How Can I Easily Remove The Churros From The Hot Oil? I find using tongs work best but you can also try using a slotted spoon.
- Substitutions:
- White Sugar – Swap out for the same amount of brown sugar if needed.
- All-purpose Flour – Only substitute up to half of the all-purpose flour for whole wheat flour if you’d like.
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
Don’t forget to share it with me on Instagram @sugarandsoulco and follow on Tiktok @sugarandsoulco and Pinterest @sugarandsoulco for more!
Share your thoughts!
Love this recipe? Share your thoughts with me below and leave a review! And don’t forget to connect on your favorite social platform below!