Homemade Churros
Oh, but the churros. It was an unplanned but very much welcome addition to our Easter brunch-slash-Easter egg hunt. It’s a good thing I had a crowd to pawn them off on, or I would have cooked up the rest of the batter and eaten them all myself, and then exploded like that guy in The Meaning of Life.
It’s not like I was a closet churro addict before. I can’t even remember where I’ve ever had them. But I am aware that they are in fact fried dough rolled in cinnamon sugar, and that’s enough information for me. As it turns out they really aren’t more complex than that, and don’t need to be.
I dug up a few recipes, and decided to go with a version made with choux pastry, a flour-butter-milk mixture that is so much easier than its name implies. Ironically, this afternoon after saying goodbye to the last of our friends and ingesting the final churro (and a couple waffles with butter and syrup, for good measure) I went and plopped myself on the bed (wasn’t physically able to do much more than digest at that point) and opened up a recent issue of Saveur – to a page with a churro recipe. They were made with orange juice and self-rising flour – very different – but I can’t imagine getting any better than these. The choux pastry makes them amazingly light, and crisp, and everything I imagine a churro should be. (I imagine some recipes might produce cakey churros, like a cake donut vs. a cruller.) You use a pastry bag with a large star tip to give them their shape – or if you only have the tips and have long lost the bag, snip off a corner of a large ziplock freezer bag and reinforce the connection with some electrical tape. Works a charm. The batter puffs up as it cooks, opening up and becoming light and airy – I never tired of watching them cook.
Remember the mini donuts I made last Stampede? These, I think, are better. And easier than cutting out all those little ‘nuts – you just squeeze the batter right into the hot oil. And are people ever impressed that O.M.G. you made homemade churros.
But their delicious pulchritude can backfire: my poor sister was determined today to get past her weight loss plateau. She went for two extra-long walks today, and ate well, and read a Weight Watchers magazine (hey, thinking thin helps). Then she came to my parents’ house for dinner, and I walked in with a bowl of fresh churros, and she ate the whole thing. I’m not sure she’ll forgive me anytime soon. But then again maybe she will, because I can make homemade churros.
Homemade churros! And really, they are not hard at all.
Homemade Churros
AuthorJulie
In a medium saucepan, bring the milk, butter, sugar and salt to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low, add the flour, and stir vigorously by hand until the dough comes together in a smooth ball that cleans the sides of the pot. Transfer to a bowl and let cool for about 10 minutes.
Using an electric mixer, beat in the eggs one at a time. You’ll end up with a sort of smooth, shiny, sticky batter that’s thicker than pancake batter but thinner than cookie dough. If you like, you can let it sit at room temperature for an hour, or refrigerate for up to 24 hours, until you’re ready for it.
When you’re ready to cook your churros, heat 2-3 cups of canola oil in a pot until hot but not smoking - test to see if it’s ready by dipping a bit of bread in - it should bubble and simmer around the bread. Spoon the batter into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip, and squeeze a few inches at a time into the oil, nudging the batter off with a knife. Don’t crowd the pot - cook maybe 3 or 4 at a time, flipping them as necessary as they turn golden. They should take a few minutes to cook - test to make sure they are cooked through (if they brown too quickly they might not - just turn the heat down). Transfer to paper towels to drain any excess oil.
In a shallow bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar. Roll the churros around in it to coat them well while they are still warm. Eat.
Makes lots (a few dozen, depending on how long you make them.)
Ingredients
Directions
In a medium saucepan, bring the milk, butter, sugar and salt to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low, add the flour, and stir vigorously by hand until the dough comes together in a smooth ball that cleans the sides of the pot. Transfer to a bowl and let cool for about 10 minutes.
Using an electric mixer, beat in the eggs one at a time. You’ll end up with a sort of smooth, shiny, sticky batter that’s thicker than pancake batter but thinner than cookie dough. If you like, you can let it sit at room temperature for an hour, or refrigerate for up to 24 hours, until you’re ready for it.
When you’re ready to cook your churros, heat 2-3 cups of canola oil in a pot until hot but not smoking - test to see if it’s ready by dipping a bit of bread in - it should bubble and simmer around the bread. Spoon the batter into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip, and squeeze a few inches at a time into the oil, nudging the batter off with a knife. Don’t crowd the pot - cook maybe 3 or 4 at a time, flipping them as necessary as they turn golden. They should take a few minutes to cook - test to make sure they are cooked through (if they brown too quickly they might not - just turn the heat down). Transfer to paper towels to drain any excess oil.
In a shallow bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar. Roll the churros around in it to coat them well while they are still warm. Eat.
Makes lots (a few dozen, depending on how long you make them.)
MMmmmm love churros. I am going to Barcelona in a couple months, plan to “try” them all over the place. Yours look fab. I love donuts in all their lovely forms. I will bookmark this page and try to make them on my own :). Thanks for the great post!
Fantastic spread! As Canadians, I feel it’s our duty to explore all kinds of donuts so view the churros as a civic duty that you bore bravely. See, don’t you feel better about them now?
http://danamccauley.wordpress.com/2008/06/03/doughnut-making-a-patriotic-duty/
Have mercy – both of these recipes look fabulous! Getting ready to make breakfast but now I have it in my head that a day of eating nothing but desserts could be justified. The blessing/curse of churros may be that all of the ingredients are things I keep on hand.
Must. Hold. Back.
Everytime I see churros I weaken…I am easy! They look delicious! Your whole spread was perfect!
*Help* Julie or anyone else…. I am looking for a hotdog/hamburger bun recipe that makes them fluffy and light while still using at least 1/2 whole wheat. I have tried a couple of recipes and they are just too dense. There are so many recipes out there, I thought it may be easier just to ask you all… thanks!!!!!
Mmm – churros. I had them in Chile, and they were filled with Dulce de Leche. To. Die. For.
Do not make those churros any other way – they were fricken’ fantastic yesterday! The Monster asked me to make them again for her. Hmm, hot oil and a toddler?
OMG… the churros. I have to confess, I’ve never before been a fan (I think the last one I had was during Stampede. Ugh.), but yours were amazing! I ate three (again, OMG), but each time I faked like I was really getting one for Mike and he obliged by eating half. So really I only ate 1.5…
Everything else was equally delicious!
Also… I devored Ruby’s pink popcorn when we got home (I feel bad about stealing one away from the kiddies, but Mommy likes pink popcorn)!
That should say “devoured”… ; )
I AM SOOOOOOO BUMMED I COULDN’T MAKE YOUR BRUNCH!
PLEEEAAASE CAN I HAVE A RAINCHECK, THE FOOD LOOKED DEVINE.
That’s it Julie, I’m coming over for your next get together…I’ll bring lots of maple stuff I promise :))
MFO
Those churros sound a lot like Beavertails!! Yummmmmm!
Hi Julie,
how many churros does that recipe make? and what kind of pan did you use?
thanks!
Clea
Pan? No pan… I used a ziploc baggie fitted with a large star tip from a decorating bag.. and tossed them in a shallow dish or cake pan with cinnamon sugar. It made LOTS. A few dozen, depending on how long you make them.
Since a couple of month my sister want me to make churros… now I got a recipe 🙂 I’ll try soon. Thanks for sharing.
Add-on to the Beavertail comparison: Try squeezing a little fresh lemon juice over the sugar and cinnamon churros before you eat them…Mmmmmm. That’s the Killaloe Sunrise Beavertail, and Killaloe, by the way, is where my sister lives and where I spend as much time as I possibly can.
These churros look AMAZING!
thanks Julie,
I made the churros for my office this morning and they were a huge hit!
I saw you down at the stampede today. You were great in person. I have watched you on T.V. before. You think well on your toes. The samples of pavlova handed out were very good. I am going to try to make some with my neices during the summer holidays. All the best to you.
The small Pavlova’s are beautiful. I’ve had a problem though keeping them white, mine are turning a light brown. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for finally writing about > Waffles, Ham, Cheese
Biscuits and Homemade Churros – Dinner With Julie Dinner With Julie Waffles,
Ham, Cheese Biscuits and Homemade Churros – Dinner
With Julie < Loved it!
Hi there, the whole thing is going nicely here and ofcourse every one is sharing
information, that’s truly good, keep up writing.
I was wondering if you ever considered changing the structure
of your website? Its very well written; I love what youve got to say.
But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better.
Youve got an awful lot of text for only having one or two images.
Maybe you could space it out better?