Easy Spanish Churros With Chocolate Sauce
My recipe for classic Spanish Churros and Chocolate Sauce is a delightful no-bake treat made with just 8 ingredients (including water and salt!). Piped pieces of a simple dough are fried until crisp and golden-brown, rolled in sparkly cinnamon-sugar, and served with warm ganache for a dessert that is so much more than the sum of its parts.
I originally published this recipe in 2019 and have since added new photos and a few more success tips.
If you’re not familiar with churro sticks, imagine the flavor of snickerdoodles with the consistency of crispy apple fritters to get a pretty close idea. Or, if you’re a more technical sort, think of a pâte à choux dough piped in a star pattern, fried like a doughnut and rolled in a spiced sugar coating. Delightful!
Ingredients & Substitutions
- All-Purpose Flour – Plain white flour is all you need.
- Water – If possible, use filtered water for the best results.
- Salt – The churro dough is very simple, so adding a bit of seasoning helps give them personality.
- Olive Oil/Vegetable Oil – Olive oil will have a fruitier, grassier, or pepperier flavor than neutral vegetable oil, but either works. Just make sure you’re not reaching for EVOO for frying since it has a low smoke point. Instead, reach for refined olive oil or another neutral oil.
- Cinnamon-Sugar – This is just what it sounds like: ground cinnamon mixed with granulated sugar. Note that cassia cinnamon has a sharper, spicier flavor than Mexican/Ceylon cinnamon (canela), so have fun experimenting!
- Dark Chocolate – Spanish churros are traditionally served with a simple chocolate dipping sauce. I personally prefer using dark chocolate in the 60-70% range, but you’re welcome to use milk chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, or bittersweet chocolate if you prefer.
- Heavy Cream – For making the ganache-style sauce extra luxurious. You’re welcome to use slightly lighter whipping cream if needed.
This is just a short review of the ingredients; for the complete recipe, including quantities, scroll down to the recipe card 👇
What Are Traditional Churros?
Traditional churros are a beloved fried pastry that originated in Spain and later became popular throughout Portugal and Latin America. They are made from a simple choux-style dough of water, flour, oil, (no eggs), and salt piped through a star-shaped nozzle for their signature ridges, and then fried until golden and crisp.
In Spain, churros are typically served for breakfast or as an afternoon snack, dusted with sugar and paired with thick hot chocolate or chocolate sauce for dipping. Latin American versions are often rolled in cinnamon sugar and may be filled with dulce de leche, chocolate, or vanilla cream.
Are churros just donuts?
Both are delicious, but they deliver completely different textures and experiences. Donuts (like Jewish sufganiyot) are made from a yeast-raised or cake-style batter, which makes them soft, fluffy, and bread-like. Churros, on the other hand, are eggless, denser and crispier, and have a distinctive ridged exterior that holds onto every bit of sugar or sauce.
How to Make Churros and Chocolate Sauce
Watch the full video recipe to learn how to make the BEST Fried Churros. This step-by-step tutorial simplifies the process, offering tips and tricks to guarantee perfect results every time.
Prefer the written recipe? Scroll down to the recipe box 👇
Optional Variations & Dietary Adaptations
- Different Spiced Sugars – Swap classic cinnamon sugar for vanilla sugar, cardamom sugar, pumpkin spice sugar, or even cocoa powder mixed with sugar.
- Chocolate Churros – Add a few tablespoons of cocoa powder to the dough for a chocolatey twist.
- Vegan Churros – Use oil instead of butter and make the dough with water only, traditional recipes already contain no eggs, so this swap is easy.
- Gluten-Free – Use a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend. The texture will be slightly softer, but still crisp when fried.
- Flavor the Dough – Add orange zest, lemon zest, or a splash of vanilla or almond extract to the dough for subtle aromatic notes.
- Savory Churros – Skip the sugar and season with parmesan, smoked paprika, garlic bread seasoning, or herbed salts, perfect for dipping in homemade tomato sauce or cheese sauce.
Expert Tips & Tricks
- Use the right piping tip. A large star tip (like an Ateco 829 or 869) creates deep ridges that help the churros cook evenly and hold onto sugar and sauces.
- Mix the dough while it’s hot. Adding the flour to boiling water or milk and stirring vigorously ensures the dough hydrates properly, giving you a perfectly crisp exterior.
- Don’t overmix. Once the dough comes together, stop. Overmixing can make the churros tough.
- Check your oil temperature. Keep the oil between 350-365°F. Too hot and they’ll brown before the inside cooks; too cool and they’ll absorb excess oil and turn greasy.
- Fry in small batches. Overcrowding drops the oil temperature, which leads to soggy churros. Fry 3-5 at a time, depending on size.
- Drain well. Place fried churros on a wire rack instead of paper towels to keep them crisp. Paper towels trap steam and can soften the exterior.
- Coat while warm. Roll churros in cinnamon sugar immediately after frying, once they cool, the sugar won’t stick as well.
- Serve fresh. Churros are at their absolute best within minutes of frying. If you must make them ahead, keep them in a warm oven (200°F) for up to 30 minutes, but avoid covering them, which causes steam and softens the crunch.
How to Serve Churros
Churros are at their best served warm and freshly coated in cinnamon sugar, but there are countless delicious ways to enjoy them. The classic way to serve them is with a thick hot chocolate or chocolate sauce for dipping.
If you’re hosting a party, cut the churros into shorter “churro bites” and serve them with toothpicks for easy snacking. Offer a few dipping sauces so everyone can customize their experience. Favorites include warm dulce de leche, rich chocolate ganache, strawberry or raspberry sauce, and sweetened condensed milk.
You can use leftover churro bites for topping desserts like cheesecake, puddings, or milkshakes. If you want to take things over the top, build a churro sundae with ice cream, a banana, chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and a cherry.
Churros also make a fun breakfast or brunch addition. Serve them with strawberry chia jam alongside fresh fruit and a French omelet for a cozy morning spread. And don’t forget a café con leche or a Mexican hot chocolate for dipping!
Churros Storage & Reheating
- Room Temperature: Churros are best eaten fresh, but you can store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days. Avoid sealing them while they’re still warm; steam will soften the crisp exterior.
- Freezing (After Frying): You can freeze cooked churros, but they won’t be quite as crisp as fresh. Let them cool completely, skip the cinnamon-sugar coating, and freeze in a single layer on a baking sheet. Once solid, transfer to a freezer bag and store for up to 2 months. Reheat in a 400°F oven for 8-10 minutes or an air fryer for 5-7 minutes, then roll in cinnamon sugar while warm.
- Reheating: To bring back their crunch, reheat churros in the air fryer at 350°F for 3-5 minutes or in the oven at 350°F for 5-8 minutes. Avoid microwaving them, as it makes them soft and chewy instead of crisp. If they lose some of their sugar coating, simply toss them in a bit more cinnamon sugar after reheating.
- Freezing (Before Frying): For the freshest make-ahead results, freeze unfried churro dough. Pipe the dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet in the desired shape, then freeze until firm. Transfer the frozen dough to a freezer-safe container or bag and store for up to 1 month. Fry straight from frozen, adding an extra 1-2 minutes to the fry time.
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Easy Spanish Churros Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
For the churros:
- 1 cup (125 g) All-purpose flour
- 1 cup (240 ml) Water
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 tablespoon Oil
For the chocolate sauce:
- 100 g (100 g) Dark chocolate
- ½ cup (120 ml) Heavy cream
For coating the churros:
- ¼ cup (50 g) Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- Oil for frying
Instructions
- Make the dough: In a medium saucepan, combine the water, oil, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat.
- Once boiling, remove from the heat and immediately add the flour. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until a thick dough forms and pulls away from the sides.
- If the dough looks shaggy, transfer it to a lightly oiled surface and knead for 20–30 seconds until smooth.
- Prepare the piping setup: Transfer the warm dough into a churrera or a large piping bag fitted with a large open star tip (Wilton 1M or Ateco 827).Tip: For safety, double-bag your piping bags (one inside the other) or use a heavy-duty bag so the hot dough won’t tear the plastic.
- Set aside while you heat the oil.
- Mix the coating: In a shallow dish, mix the sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
- Make the chocolate sauce: Finely chop the dark chocolate and place it in a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream in a small saucepan until just beginning to simmer, then pour it over the chocolate. Rest 1–2 minutes, then stir until smooth and glossy.
- Fry the churros: Heat oil in a Dutch oven or deep skillet to 350°F (180°C).
- Pipe long strips of dough directly into the hot oil, cutting them with scissors. Fry 4–5 churros at a time until golden, about 2–4 minutes. Drain on paper towels.
- Coat and serve: Roll the warm churros in the cinnamon sugar. Serve immediately with warm chocolate sauce.
Video
Notes
- Piping Bag Safety: This dough is dense and warm, always double-bag your piping bags or use a sturdy reusable one. Thin bags can tear and cause burns.
- Use large piping tips: Use a large open star tip (Ateco 828, 829). Smaller tips cannot handle the dough.
- Oil Temperature: Keep oil at 350°F (180°C) for even frying. If oil is too hot: the churros brown too fast and stay raw inside, if too cool they absorb oil and become greasy.
- Make-Ahead & Storage: Churros taste best fresh. If you need to prepare ahead, pipe the raw dough onto a tray and freeze. Fry straight from frozen, just add 1–2 minutes.
- Choose your chocolate: Chocolate sauce can be made with milk chocolate, but reduce cream slightly (to ~100ml).
Nutrition
FAQs
Generally speaking, churros are made from a simple choux dough made by cooking flour, water, salt, and oil. The dough is then piped and fried in a neutral oil, then rolled in sugar or cinnamon sugar.
Churros originated in Spain and Portugal, but have since become deeply rooted in Mexican cuisine and Latin American food culture. So, while they’re traditionally Spanish and Portuguese, they are also Mexican!
A churro tastes like a warm, crisp, fried pastry with a light, slightly chewy center and a sweet cinnamon-sugar coating. It lands somewhere between a plain doughnut and a crunchy funnel cake.
No. Authentic churros contain no baking powder or leavening. Baking powder can help create a lighter, fluffier texture, but churros are amazing even without it, the dough naturally puffs as it fries, giving you that classic crispy-outside, soft-inside bite.
Churros can crack if steam gets trapped inside the dough while frying. This happens when the dough isn’t smooth, the piping tip is too small, or the ridges aren’t deep enough. Use a large open star tip, make sure the dough is smooth, and keep the oil at 350°F (180°C) so the churros cook evenly without bursting.
You can, but baked churros will not have the same crispiness or classic texture. If baking, pipe onto a parchment-lined tray, brush with oil, and bake at 400°F (200°C) for about 10–12 minutes, flipping halfway.
Making this recipe for years, works every time!
Love the idea of using pumpkin spice sugar mix, going to try it next time.
Lovely
Thanks for posting.
Got to be one of the best easy site l have been on, very good recipes good format most enjoyable , looking forward to trying your recipes in the very near future. You will always be my first port of call from now on. Also Gluten free
if l need it sometimes for one of our family, Thank you.
Hi Ann,
Glad to hear you like my recipes 🙂