Choux-style dough piped into hot oil, fried until deep golden and rolled in cinnamon sugar. Eighteen churros.
Deep frying safely
An inch and a half of oil at 375F in a four to five quart Dutch oven or deep saucepan.
Fill the pan no more than a third full. Oil expands as it heats and the dough displaces more, and a pan filled halfway can overflow.
Use a thermometer rather than guessing. 375F is hot and the margin between correct and smoking is narrow.
Never move a pan of hot oil. If something goes wrong, turn off the heat and leave it where it is.
If oil catches fire, smother it with a lid or a baking sheet and turn off the heat. Never use water, which vaporises instantly and throws burning oil across the room.
Lower the dough in gently rather than dropping it, and keep your hands and face back from the surface.
Stir vigorously until it forms a ball
Thirty to sixty seconds after the flour goes into the boiling water and butter.
This is choux pastry technique. Vigorous stirring over heat gelatinises the starch and drives off moisture, and the dough pulls together into a mass that leaves the sides of the pan.
Under-stirred, the dough is loose and the churros absorb oil rather than puffing.
Let it stand five minutes before the egg
Transferred to a bowl first.
A single egg stirred into dough straight off the heat starts scrambling. Five minutes brings the temperature down enough that the egg incorporates instead of setting.
Smooth and glossy is the target, and the recipe notes the mixture will be sticky. That is correct.
Pipe onto a lined sheet first
Four inch strips onto parchment sprayed with cooking spray, then lowered into the oil.
Piping directly into hot oil is possible and it puts your hands over 375F fat while you squeeze a bag. Piping onto a sheet first lets you work calmly and then transfer each strip gently.
The spray is what lets them release. Piped onto bare parchment, sticky dough grips.
A star tip, not a round one
The ridges are structural rather than decorative.
They increase the surface area, which means more crisp exterior relative to soft interior. They also give the cinnamon sugar something to hold onto.
A round tip gives you a smooth tube that fries less evenly and comes out heavier.
No piping tip is not a barrier. The recipe’s own tip is to use a gallon resealable bag with half an inch cut from one corner, which works, though you lose the ridges.
Turn them frequently
Three to four minutes, until deep golden brown.
Churros float, so only part of each one is submerged at any moment. Turning frequently is what browns them evenly rather than leaving a pale stripe along the top.
Deep golden rather than pale. An underdone churro is doughy in the middle.
Coat while hot
Drained briefly on paper towel, then rolled in the cinnamon sugar.
Hot churros carry a film of oil that the sugar sticks to. Left to cool for even a few minutes, that film sets and the sugar slides off.
Work in batches so each one gets coated within a minute of leaving the oil.
Discard the used cinnamon sugar
Which the recipe specifies and which is worth doing.
It has picked up oil and crumbs from the churros and it will not keep. Mix fresh if you make another batch.
Serving
Warm, on their own or with the chile-chocolate sauce the recipe offers: a cup of semisweet chocolate chips with an eighth of a teaspoon of cayenne, microwaved gently and stirred smooth. Around 110 calories each. They are at their best within about ten minutes of frying and they do not keep well, which is the honest position on any fried dough. Why the dough is boiled first Choux is the only pastry cooked before it is cooked. Boiling water and butter with flour gelatinises the starch, so the dough can hold considerably more egg than a raw flour mixture could.
That egg is what puffs the churro in the oil, since it sets into a structure around the steam produced as the water inside turns to vapour.
A note on the recipe’s own tips
Its bag-piping tip refers to forming strips as directed in Step 3, but the piping happens in Step 5. Follow the step order rather than the cross-reference.
Churros
Description
Classic fried churros coated in cinnamon sugar, with an optional chile-chocolate dipping sauce.
Ingredients:
Instructions
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In a 4 to 5 quart Dutch oven or deep saucepan heat 1 1/2 inches of oil to 375F, filling the pan no more than a third full and using a thermometer. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Line a heatproof plate with paper towels.
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In a large bowl mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon and set aside.
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In a 3 quart saucepan heat the water and butter to a rolling boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the flour and salt. Stir vigorously 30 to 60 seconds until the mixture forms a ball and leaves the sides of the pan.
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Transfer the dough to a medium bowl and let stand 5 minutes, then stir in the egg with a rubber spatula until smooth and glossy. The mixture will be sticky.
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Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip. Onto the prepared cookie sheet, squeeze the dough into 4-inch strips.
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Working in batches, gently lower the dough strips into the hot oil, keeping hands and face back. Cook, turning frequently, 3 to 4 minutes until deep golden brown. Drain on the paper towel lined plate.
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Gently coat the churros in the cinnamon sugar while still hot, since the oil film sets within minutes and the sugar will not stick afterwards.
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Repeat frying, draining and coating with the remaining dough. Discard the used cinnamon sugar and serve warm..
Note
Deep frying safety: fill the pan no more than a third full, since oil expands and the dough displaces more. Use a thermometer, as 375F leaves a narrow margin before smoking. Never move a pan of hot oil. If oil catches fire, smother it with a lid or baking sheet and turn off the heat; never use water. Stir the dough vigorously for 30 to 60 seconds until it forms a ball and leaves the pan sides. Let it stand 5 minutes before adding the egg, or the egg scrambles. Pipe onto a sprayed lined sheet first rather than directly into the oil. Use a star tip, whose ridges increase crisp surface and hold the sugar. Turn frequently, since churros float. Coat while hot, as the oil film sets within minutes and the sugar then slides off. Discard the used cinnamon sugar. The source tip misnumbers a step reference; follow the step order.