Churros con Chocolate
Churros con chocolate are the traditional Sunday morning breakfast across Spain, sold from before-dawn economics at stands called churrerías, where customers stop before work or after a night out. The exact origin of the name remains unclear — a popular, though unproven, theory links the twisted shape of churros to the horns of the churra sheep, a rustic Spanish breed — but the pastry has since spread from Spain across Latin America, where it varies from filled with dulce de leche to unsweetened, served plainly with sugar. Technically, churro dough doesn't resemble any other pastry dough: it's a scalded dough, where hot water instantly gelatinizes the starch in the flour, instead of letting yeast or baking soda do the work, as in most pastries. The result is an elastic, dense dough, piped directly into hot oil without needing to rise. The thick hot chocolate, thickened separately with starch, isn't just a drink to accompany it, but an integral part of the recipe — dense enough to coat the churro like a sauce, not just wet it.
Water with butter and salt is brought to a boil before the flour is added all at once
The starch gelatinizes instantly on contact with the hot liquid, forming an elastic dough, not a raw, sticky one
The dough is beaten vigorously with a wooden spoon, right in the pot, over low heat
Continuous beating evaporates excess moisture, leaving a dough firm enough to hold its shape through a piping bag
The dough is piped into the oil through a star-shaped nozzle, not a round one
The ridges created by the star nozzle give more surface area that browns crisply when fried
The hot drinking chocolate is as thick as a custard, thickened with starch
A starch like cornstarch turns the chocolate milk into a sauce dense enough to cling to the churros, not just a thin drink
Ingredients 4 servings
- 250ml water
- 50g butter
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 150g flour
- Oil, for frying
- Sugar, for dusting
- 200g dark chocolate, chopped
- 500ml milk
- 2 tbsp cornstarch (dissolved in a little cold milk)
- 2 tbsp sugar
How to make it
- 1PREPARE THE DOUGH: put the water, butter, salt and sugar in a pot, bring to a boil.
- 2ADD THE FLOUR: remove the pot from heat, add all the flour at once, stir vigorously with a wooden spoon, until fully combined.
- 3DRY THE DOUGH: put the pot back over low heat, beat the dough 1-2 minutes, to release excess moisture, until it pulls away from the sides of the pot.
- 4FILL THE PIPING BAG: let the dough cool slightly, fill a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle.
- 5FRY: heat the oil to 180°C, pipe strips of dough directly into the oil, cut them to length with a knife, fry 3-4 minutes per side, until golden.
- 6PREPARE THE CHOCOLATE: heat the milk with the sugar, add the chopped chocolate, stir until melted, add the dissolved cornstarch, simmer 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly, until thickened.
- 7SERVE: drain the churros on paper towels, dust with sugar, serve immediately, alongside the hot chocolate.
Nutritional info
per serving (~350 g)
Estimated nutritional values.
Pairs perfectly with
