Churros, Spanish and Latin American snack desserts (essentially their doughnuts), are one of my favorite sweets. Traditionally, they're long tubes with many full-length ridges, crisp on the outside and somewhat bready on the inside. They can be thin, about 1/2 inch in diameter, or thicker, as much as 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Often they're filled with caramel, custard, or cherry flavorings. At places like El Moro in Mexico City, people eat freshly made thin churros by dipping them in hot chocolate.

However, on travels in Mexico I came across freshly made light and crisp churros only a few inches long. They quickly became my favorite churros. I consider them the Krispy Kreme version of churros because they're great hot and fresh and much lighter than the average churro.

I tried several recipes from people like Rick Bayless and Elizabeth Lambert-Ortiz, but could only find bready versions. The egg in Ortiz's recipe seemed to help a little, however. Then TrishCT offered a wetter and fattier recipe from Betty Crocker with even more eggs. It was similar to one I had invented from extending Ortiz's recipe. Ultimately by mixing ideas from these recipes, I came up with two versions that I'm happy with.

Churros
Oil for Frying
Dough
1 c Water
1/4 c Butter
1/2 tsp Salt
1 T Sugar
1 c All-Purpose Flour
2 Eggs
1/3 c Cream (optional)
Coating
1/2 c Sugar
1/2 T Cinnamon (optional)

Put sugar in a bowl and optionally mix in cinnamon. Set aside.

Heat oil to 390 F to a depth of at least 2 inches.

Place water, butter, salt, and tablespoon of sugar in a saucepan on medium heat. Once the butter has melted bring to a rapid boil. Add flour all at once and mix thoroughly until it forms a pasty ball. Add in eggs all at once and beat until it reforms a solid paste and the eggs are fully incorporated. Optionally, mix in the cream for a more moist interior at this point.

Add the dough to a churrera or a piping bag fitted with a 1/2 inch star tip. Extrude churros about 4 inches in length into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown, never letting the oil go below 350 F, about 1 1/2 minutes one each side.

Remove to paper towels to remove excess oil, then toss in sugar or cinnamon sugar. Best when eaten quickly. Makes about 12-16 churros.

Date User Comment

Thu 04/22/04 12:20:05 ExtraMSG Woops! Forgot the flour.

Thu 04/22/04 02:04:46 ExtraMSG Initial entry of recipe.