My husband and I took a trip to Spain a few months ago and I ended up falling in love with the churros. I already knew I loved Mexican style churros, but oh man, Spanish Churros might be my new favorite thing! The biggest difference is that they are vegan because there’s no egg in their dough and they aren’t rolled in cinnamon-sugar once they’re fried. This makes for a super light and crispy texture rather than a crisp, chewy one. Aside from the lighter than air texture, I love the fact that sugar is just sprinkled on at the end (and is also optional) and isn’t covering the entire churro. It’s makes dipping them in chocolate sauce that much more delicious and not overly sweet. Freshly whipped cream to dip them in was another option we saw happening a lot in Spain, along with the chocolate sauce and who doesn’t love that, right?
When I came home I searched all across LA to find a place that made and sold these types of churros, but they were really few and far between, so I somewhat reluctantly decided to make my own. Turns out, they’re really easy to make! The only thing I really recommend, to make these guys absolutely perfect, is getting a hand-held churro maker. I KNOW. Investing in a single use gadget probably doesn’t seem that appealing, but they really make the job 100 times easier, are not expensive and it doesn’t take up very much space at all! I mention being able to use a piping bag with a star tip for this recipe, but I should warn (and do at the end of the recipe), that the piping bag/tip method is still a bit difficult to use because the dough is so stiff. I do provide a third alternative too if you don’t want to deal with any gadgets. While they won’t be quite the same, they’ll still turn out crisp and delicious! Enjoy! xx, Jenny
Spanish Churros
EQUIPMENT
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons boiling water
- 4 cups oil for frying
- 3 tablespoons sugar for sprinkling
INSTRUCTIONS
- Place flour, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl and whisk together.
- Add boiling water to flour mixture. Stir together with a wooden spoon until mixture is fully combined, with no dry spots. Cool for a few minutes.
- Pour oil into a tall sided pot and place over medium heat. Preheat oil to 350˚F.
- Push dough into a churro maker with a medium star insert and pipe 6 inch long churros directly into the hot oil, snipping the ends off with scissors, before piping another churro. Fry a few at a time.
- Fry churros for about 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
- Transfer churros onto a paper towel lined baking sheet, topped with a cooling rack and sprinkle with sugar. Repeat frying and sprinkling sugar with remaining dough.
- Once all churros have been fried, transfer them all onto a platter. Serve with chocolate sauce for dipping.
NOTES
- Make sure your water is boiling before adding it to the dough. This is what activates the starches in the flour to create the light and crispy texture these churros are known for. Just hot or lukewarm won't cut it; it has to be boiling.
- A single-use gadget doesn't always seem worth it, but trust me and use a churro maker. The dough is very stiff, and while you can use a piping bag fitted with a star tip, it's a lot harder than it needs to be. If you don't want to use a churro maker, you can also roll the dough into thin, long snakes by hand, snip them into 6-inch pieces, and carefully transfer them into the hot oil.
- For the best results, monitor your oil temperature and keep it at 350°F. If it cools too much, your churros will absorb too much oil and become greasy instead of crispy. If it gets too hot, the outside will burn before the dough inside cooks. To prevent the oil temp from dropping, work in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan.
- To help the sugar stick to the churros, sprinkle it while the churros are still hot.
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Lived in Spain for a couple of years and these are _exactly_ as I remember them there. I kept finding recipes with egg that I knew were wrong. And then I found this one!
I too only tried Mexican churros until a trip to Barcelona. They were amazing. Looking forward to trying your recipe. Was hoping you had a chocolate sauce to go with, as that was so good with them.
They came out great!
Thank you for your suggestion about buying a churro maker. My first attempt at this using a piping bag was a disaster!
Yes!! I’m so happy they turned out well for you! The churro maker is such a game changer! It seems excessive, but it’s SO much easier than using a piping bag!!
FINALLY a recipe that is inherently Castellano without weird additions. I personally prefer to do the chocolate a bit differently, but there’s no wrong dipping sauce for these babies. Thanks for sharing a traditional Spanish dish!
I love these! So light and airy
nice to know about this Spanish version, since the Mexican version is way too sweet for my taste, also never knew there was such a thing as a churro maker! thank you