Churros

Churros were brought to Latin America by the Spaniards who shared this tasty treasure with Mexico and the rest of the colonies in centre and south America. Churros were a popular pastry among Spanish sheep herders who used to make them while attending their “churras’ sheeps”. They ideated a pastry that was easy to make outdoors with just a few ingredients, using a pan and some oil. As you can guess the name came from “churras’ sheeps” and the curve form of their horns.

Ingredients: (makes about 14 to 16 medium size churros)

• 1 1/4 cup of water
• 50 grs. of margarine or butter (can substitute for vegan butter)
• 1/2 cinnamon stick (optional)
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 1 cup of all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 egg, whisked
• Canola oil enough to fry
• Sugar and ground cinnamon (optional) enough to cover the churros
• Pastry bag with tip (preferable a rounded star tip for nice and profound ridges) or a large sealable plastic bag

Garnishes:

• Chocolate
• Cajeta or dulce de leche
• Marmalade

Instructions:

In a sauce pan boil the water with the cinnamon stick, butter, vanilla extract, sugar and salt.

When the ingredients are boiling add the flour, all at once, and stir quickly. This will ensure a crunchy texture when the churros are fried.

Turn off the heat, remove the pan from the stove. Let the mixture cool, wait for approximately 10 minutes before incorporating the egg, baking powder and ground cinamon. (Pleas note, if the egg is added when the dough is hot it will cook; we don’t want our churros to taste like scrambled eggs lol)
Continue mixing until all ingredients are well incorporated, there are no more lumps and you get a smoother dough.

Once the dough is cool put it in a piping bag with tip or a plastic bag and cut the tip (the only difference will be the ridges).

Preheat oil in a large pan at 180C. Squeeze a little to get the mixture in the oil, make them as short or large as you would like.

Pro tip: Cut the batter using scissors. Pre-dip the scissors’ tips in oil so the batter doesn’t stick to them.

Work on batches, fry a few churros at a time so they don’t stick to each other. Fry until the churros are cripsy and get a nice brown colour.

Place your churros in a plate with paper towels, remove excess oil.

In a shallow plate add sugar and cinamon. Roll the churros over the mixture when they are still warm.

Enjoy with melted chocolate, marmalade, cajeta or dulce de leche on top.

Source: https://blog.xcaret.com/es/receta-de-churros-mexicanos/