Authentic Spanish Churros (No Eggs, No Butter) – Traditional Street-Style Recipe
There is something magical about biting into a hot churro: crisp on the outside, tender inside, and still warm enough to melt into sugar and cinnamon. This recipe is my authentic Spanish-style churros, made the way you’ll find them in Madrid: just flour, water, salt and oil, fried until golden, then rolled in sugar.
Ingrédients
Churros
- 250 g 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 250 g 250 ml / 1 cup boiling water
- 4 g ¾ tsp fine salt
- 15 g 1 tbsp neutral oil
For frying
- 1 –1.5 L 4–6 cups neutral frying oil
- Sugar coating
- 100 g ½ cup granulated sugar
- 5 g 2 tsp ground cinnamon
Optional chocolate sauce
- 250 g 1 cup whole milk
- 125 g ½ cup heavy cream
- 150 g 5.3 oz dark chocolate, chopped
- 25 g 2 tbsp sugar
- 10 g 1 tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Prepare sugar coating: Mix sugar and cinnamon in a shallow dish. Reserve.
- Make dough: Bring water to a boil with salt and oil. Place flour in a bowl, pour boiling water mixture over it and stir vigorously until a thick, smooth dough forms with no dry spots. Let rest 5–10 minutes.
- Fill piping bag: Transfer the warm dough to a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Press down to remove air pockets.
- Heat oil: Fill a deep pot with oil (at least 5 cm / 2 inches deep). Heat to 180–185 °C (355–365 °F).
- Pipe churros: Pipe 10–12 cm (4–5 inch) strips of dough directly into the hot oil, cutting them with scissors or a knife. Fry in small batches.
- Fry: Cook each batch 2–4 minutes, turning once or twice, until deeply golden and crisp. Adjust heat to keep temperature stable.
- Drain and coat: Transfer churros to paper towels for a few seconds, then roll immediately in the sugar–cinnamon mixture. Serve hot.
- Optional chocolate sauce: Whisk milk, cream, sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring. Remove from heat, add chocolate, rest 1 minute, then whisk until smooth and thick. Serve warm with churros.
Vidéo
Notes
Substitutions and Variations
- Flour: Use standard all-purpose flour. Bread flour makes churros chewier; cake flour makes them more fragile.
- No cinnamon: You can coat them only in sugar, like some churrerías in Spain.
- Citrus sugar: Mix grated orange or lemon zest into the sugar for a fragrant twist.
- Spiced sugar: Add a pinch of nutmeg or cardamom to the sugar-cinnamon mixture.
- Vegan version: This recipe is already dairy-free. Use vegetable oil for frying and serve with a dark chocolate sauce made with plant-based milk.
FAQ – Authentic Spanish Churros
Can I make the dough in advance?You can prepare the dough up to 2 hours ahead. Keep it covered at room temperature. It will stiffen slightly as it cools but should still pipe. For best texture, fry the churros the same day. Can I bake churros instead of frying?
Authentic Spanish churros are fried. You can pipe the dough onto a baking sheet and bake at 200 °C / 400 °F until golden, but the texture will be different and less crisp. Why did my churros burst in the oil?
Possible reasons: dough too thin, added extra cold water, or trapped air pockets in the dough. Make sure the dough is thick, mixed thoroughly, and piped without large bubbles. Can I freeze churros?
You can pipe raw churros onto a tray, freeze them solid, then fry from frozen. They will take a bit longer to cook. Fried churros are best eaten fresh, but you can reheat them in a hot oven for a few minutes to refresh the texture. What’s the difference between this recipe and your “churros my way” recipe?
This version is the traditional Spanish churro: no eggs, no butter, no milk. My “churros my way” recipe on the blog uses a richer dough inspired by pâte à choux, with a slightly softer interior and a different flavour profile.