Make Churros

The Mexican version of a quick fried cake, churros are incredible tasty treats that couldn't be easier to make. Whether you want to craft them from scratch or are looking for a quicker fix, anyone can whip up a batch of churros at home.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup water
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup butter
  • 1 cup white flour, sifted
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon (less, if desired)
  • Pinch of salt (roughly 1/2 teaspoon)
  • Vegetable oil for frying (canola can work, as well)

Steps

Making Fresh Churros

  1. In a small bowl, whip the two eggs together with the vanilla. It should be well blended and mixed. When done, set it aside for later.
    • To make richer churros, you can add 1-2 more eggs, though this is totally up to taste.
  2. In a large frying pan, heat up 1-1/2" of oil until 375F. If you don't have a candy thermometer, keep everything on medium-low, and you'll be ready just as small amounts of "smoke" is rising from the top of the oil. If you drop a small test ball of dough in, the oil should immediately start bubbling.
    • A thick-bottomed pan is always your best bet, as they hold heat much better than thinner pans.
    • You can also wait to pre-heat the oil until after you've made the dough. However, this can take some time, so starting now is a good idea if you think you can do the dough quickly. If you do, just keep the burner on medium, not high, to prevent burning.[1]
  3. In a medium saucepan, add the water, brown sugar, salt, and butter and heat until boiling. Stir it frequently, until everything is well dissolved and the mixture is bubbling nicely. Once it is a consistent, boiling mixture, immediately lower the heat to low.
  4. Add the flour to the hot water mixture all at once, stirring until a firm dough. This takes some arms, so really get in there with a wooden spoon to stir everything up into it is well blended. Turn the heat off when done.
  5. Pour the egg/vanilla mixture in and stir until you have a consistent dough. You should have a glossy ball of dough when you've mixed everything up completely. If you pull up on the dough sharply, it should keep it's hook shape. If it doesn't add and beat in another egg.[2]
  6. Consider how you want to make the long, round shapes churros are famous for. There are a lot of ways to turn your ball of dough into long, delicious churros, and none of them are wrong. Use whatever works for you, making long, thin, cylindrical treats:
    • Pinch and Roll: The simplest method, simply pull off a 2" ball of dough and roll it between your hands to form a snake-like shape, roughly 1/2" thick.
    • Decorative Piper: Usually used for icing, these have star-shaped tips that will get the ridges found on fairground churros. Pack the dough where the icing goes and then push it through to make perfect, even logs of dough.[1]
    • DIY Decorative Piper: Take a large freezer back and fill it with dough. Then cut the bottom corner off the bag to form a small opening. Squeeze the dough through this whole to make your logs.[3]
  7. Fry the logs in hot oil until golden brown on all sides, turning frequently. The total cooking time will depend on how thick the churros are, but you should be able to tell easily when they are done, as the outsides will be an alluring golden brown. Don't put more than 3-4 churros in the pan at once -- too much will drop the temperature of the oil rapidly, leading to greasy churros.
  8. Drain the finished churros on paper towels. Set them aside on a plate of paper towels, then lightly pat down the tops with more paper towels to get rid of excess oil.
  9. In a small bowl, combine white sugar and cinnamon and roll the churros in the mixture. You've got your finished churros! Combine them in as much or as little cinnamon sugar as you want -- they'll be delicious either way.
    • Some people take things a step further by drizzling the finished churros in chocolate sauce, too.[4]

Making "Instant" Churros

  1. Purchase a roll of pre-made biscuits from your favorite brand. The dough in a "real" churro is a little different than the dough in a biscuit, but the basic ingredients are the same and they will cook similarly. It is usually best to use the smaller biscuits, allowing you to more easily fry everything.
    • If you don't want the fat of biscuit batter, you can use 1 cup hot water and 3-1/4 cups of your favorite all-purpose pancake mix. Blend into a dough and proceed like normal.[5]
  2. Take two biscuits and roll them in between your hands into ten-inch ropes. Churros need to be long and thin in order to really cook nicely. Try to make all the ropes roughly the same diameter for the best results.
  3. Twist biscuits together and pinch ends. Simply make a rope out of the biscuits by braiding one over the other, When done, pinch both ends together to fuse them. You can also lightly roll the whole thing together to keep the centers together.
  4. Alternatively, use an icing pipette or icing bag to pump out the strips. Simply put the dough into a large plastic bag, then snip off the bottom corner with scissors. You can push the dough straight out the bottom of the back in perfect strips.
  5. Pour vegetable oil into a medium-sized frying pan. Heat until it reached 375F. Make sure there is about {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} of oil in the pan to cover the churros. There should be enough oil so that they float freely while frying, and all sides, except the very top, are being cooked at the same time.
    • If you don't have an oil thermometer, 375 is when there is barely smoke coming off the top of the oil. Don't let it get much farther than this point.
  6. Drop the dough twists into the pan, turning occasionally. Fry for about 2 minutes, or until golden brown. They don't take long, but you can easily see when they are finished by the color on the outsides. Once they look good to eat, they usually are.
  7. Remove the churros with the slotted spoon and place them on a paper towel. Pat them down with paper towels to remove excess oil, which will make them soggy if it cools on the churro.
  8. Roll the twisted dough in cinnamon and sugar mixture. In a separate bowl, mix up 1/2 cup of sugar with a teaspoon of cinnamon. Then roll the warm churros in the mixture to coat them deliciously.
  9. Serve warm, with chocolate dip if desired. They are fine on their own or with a delicious chocolate dip. Enjoy!



Tips

  • If the dough sticks to your hands, you can put flour on them to prevent it from happening again.
  • You don't have to use cinnamon sugar. You can use anything that suits your tastes.
  • Keep the hob at a low temperature so the churros don't burn.

Warnings

  • Hot oil is very dangerous if handled improperly. Keep your distance and make sure people know there is hot oil in the kitchen.

Things You'll Need

  • pan
  • platter
  • waxed paper
  • spoon or whisk
  • baking sheet
  • PAM spray or something to grease baking sheet

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.cooking-mexican-recipes.com/churro-recipe.html
  2. ↑ http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/daisy-martinez/mexican-crullers-churros-recipe.html
  3. ↑ http://allrecipes.com/recipe/24700/churros/
  4. ↑ http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/churros-recipe3.html
  5. ↑ http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/bisquick-churros/18e7775d-8f12-400c-9944-78deebb320d6
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