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Baked Churros are so easy to make with no frying! They taste just as good as a fried churro but are easier to make. We loved dipping them in chocolate ganache or just eating them straight from the oven – they’re so good!
We love churros so much – especially Disneyland churros – but we don’t love frying. I gave baked churros a chance and well, they’re fantastic. They taste pretty much the same but with less hassle and less grease!
Ingredients
Churros are basically made with Pate a Choux, which is a cooked flour and egg dough. It can be temperamental, so make sure to read the entire post and recipe before cooking.
- Butter: I used unsalted butter but salted may be substituted. Slice it so it melts faster.
- Sugar: Granulated sugar – just a small amount to lightly sweeten the dough.
- Flour: All-purpose flour is what is normally used for churro dough. Be sure to measure it correctly.
- Eggs: Large eggs should be room temperature.
- Cinnamon Sugar: For coating the hot churros. You can use a basic cinnamon-sugar blend or use brown sugar, add some nutmeg, or use pumpkin pie spice!
How to make Baked Churros
First, let’s make the choux dough – you want to make sure to do the steps exactly as I describe in the recipe card so your churros taste good.
1. Melt water and butter together in a medium saucepan. You want the water and melted butter mixture to boil.
2. Before adding to a stand mixer, beat the flour into the boiling butter mixture with a wooden spoon. You’ll get a thick paste-like mixture.
3. Turn the mixer on low speed for 1 minute to cool the dough. This is a super important step so you don’t cook the eggs! Add in eggs one at a time and mix for one minute until you get a smooth dough.
4. Place the dough in a piping bag fitted with a large star tip (Wilton 1M or similar). Pipe churros onto baking sheets covered with parchment paper.
5. Bake until light golden brown – turning the churros halfway through baking. Then brush with melted butter and roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture to coat.
You can also air fry churros instead of baking them!
How to Serve Baked Churros
- We love these hot with cinnamon sugar. The cinnamon sugar won’t really stick to the baked churros like they would fried churros, so I brush them with melted butter before rolling in the sugar mixture.
- Serve them with a dip, like chocolate ganache or caramel sauce. You could also whip up a simple chocolate sauce or serve them with your favorite ice cream.
Common Churro Questions
Why are my churros not turning brown?
Baked churros will not get deep golden brown like fried ones do. They’ll be light in the valleys and golden brown on the ridges. They’ll also be flat on one side from piping.
Why are my churros not crispy?
These will get soft after they’ve sat for a few hours. It’s best to bake them right before serving. Brushing them with butter also softens them a little bit.
Why do my churros taste like egg?
If you end up with eggy churros that’s because you didn’t let your dough cool enough. See the explicit instructions below.
Expert Tips Before You Bake
- The cooling step is essential to success for this recipe. If you do not allow the dough to cool the eggs will cook, giving your dough a very eggy taste. Once you’ve transferred the dough to the bowl, let it sit for a minute, then start mixing before adding eggs.
- Remove the pan of melted butter and water from the heat (and stovetop) to stir in the flour, this will allow it to start cooling, then move the dough to a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, which will cool it more.
- If you have trouble with your dough sticking to the tip when piping, use a sharp knife, kitchen scissors or a pizza cutter to snip the churro.
The original recipe in this post was from Food Network and ended up having so many reader issues I couldn’t replicate, so the recipe below is completely new and has been tested several times.
Baked Churros Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups (474ml) water
- 2 tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter , softened
- 2 tablespoons (25g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups (248g) all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs
Coating
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter , melted
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line three cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Place water, 2 tablespoons softened butter, 2 tablespoons sugar, vanilla, and salt in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat until butter is melted and stir occasionally until mixture boils.
- Turn off the heat and remove pan from the stove. Stir in the flour with a wooden spoon. A thick paste will form. Make sure to do this off the heat and off the stove, so that the mixture can cool as you stir it.
- Transfer the dough to the bowl of a stand mixer and let sit 1 minute to cool. Attach the paddle attachment and add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition (work fast to avoid cooking the eggs). You can also use a large bowl with a hand mixer but work fast.
- Place the churro batter in a large pastry bag fitted with a star or 1M tip.
- Pipe churros in desired size and shapes onto cookie sheets. (This recipe makes approximately 60 3-inch long churros or 25 7-inch long churros.) If the dough sticks to the tip you can use a knife or kitchen scissors to cut the dough at the piping tip.
- Spray the churros with nonstick cooking spray. This will help them brown.
- Bake for 20-30 minutes (depending on size), rotating pans as needed, until churros are baked through and lightly golden.
- Cool slightly, or until you can handle them.
- Melt remaining ½ cup butter in a medium size bowl. Mix sugar and cinnamon in another bowl. Dip the churros in the butter then roll in cinnamon sugar. Serve immediately with dipping sauce.
- To make chocolate ganache: place 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream and 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips in a microwave safe cup or bowl. Heat for 1 minute, then whisk until smooth.
- To make caramel dipping sauce: place 20 unwrapped caramel squares and 3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream in a microwave safe cup or bowl. Heat for 1 minute, then stir until smooth, reheating as needed. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt if desired.
Recipe Notes
- Butter is not required; if you want a crunchier churro just roll them in cinnamon sugar, but the cinnamon sugar needs to be applied as soon as they come out of the oven and won’t stick as much as it would to a fried churro.
- Baking time will depend on the thickness and size of your churros. It’s more of a “drying out” – they won’t get super golden brown.
- Storing and making ahead: Churro dough can be made a day ahead and stored in the refrigerator, but dough needs to come to room temperature to pipe easily. These are best served immediately while hot – they will soften as they cool. If you want to make them ahead of time, don’t coat them. Air fry to crisp them up and coat with cinnamon sugar right before serving.
- Make sure to remove your pan from the heat before mixing in flour. This will cool off the dough enough that you will avoid cooking the eggs.
- Transfer to mixing bowl and allow to sit for 1 minute.
- Mix in the eggs quickly, so that they do not cook.
this recipe was horrible. The batter was so thin. We had to add 6 more cups of flour to it. They did not keep their shape. In the oven, they did not puff up at all. They were like cookies.
When did you print the recipe? I just edited it on June 18 to a different recipe because so many people had trouble with the old one. The new one is straight from Cooks Illustrated. Did you have a thick paste after mixing in the flour? Also – they won’t puff up as much in the oven as they do when fried. Frying causes that puffy inside.
Yum
I made this recipe and these are delicious. Easy to follow recipe and definitely a favorite! I used half of the butter for dipping and half of the sugar with added cinnamon which was perfect. I will be making these again. Thank you.
These are awesome. Worked perfectly.
these are so good
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