Cinnamon-Sugar Churros with Chocolate Dipping Sauce
Choux pastry piped straight into hot oil, rolled warm in cinnamon sugar, with a dark chocolate sauce for dunking.
- Serves
- 6
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Written
Method
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Bring the water, butter, 2 tablespoons sugar, and ¼ teaspoon salt to a boil in a saucepan.
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Dump in the flour all at once and stir hard until the dough pulls into a smooth ball and leaves a thin film on the bottom of the pan, about 1 minute.
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Scrape the dough into a bowl and beat for a minute to cool slightly, then beat in the eggs one at a time until glossy and smooth enough to hold a ribbon off the spoon.
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Transfer the dough to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip.
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Heat the oil to 350°F in a deep, heavy pot.
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Pipe 4-inch lengths of dough directly into the oil, snipping with scissors, and fry a few at a time, turning once, until deep golden and crisp all over, about 3 minutes per side.
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Drain on a wire rack set over paper towels.
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Stir the ½ cup sugar and cinnamon together on a plate and roll the warm churros until coated.
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Pour hot cream over the chopped chocolate and a pinch of salt, let sit a minute, then whisk until smooth.
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Serve the churros warm with the chocolate sauce for dipping.
Notes
Choux is cooked twice, and both times matter. The stovetop pass drives off enough water that the flour can’t turn gluey later — that’s what the thin film on the bottom of the pan is telling you. The egg-beating pass has to happen off the heat and slowly, or the eggs scramble before they emulsify into the dough. Get both right and the batter holds its ridges through the fryer instead of slumping into a blob.
Oil temperature does the rest of the work: below 350°F the churros soak up oil before the crust sets, above 375°F they scorch outside while the center stays raw. A thermometer earns its keep here. If you don’t own a star tip, a zip-top bag with the corner cut is a flat-sided churro, not a ridged one — it fries up fine, just less crisp along the edges.