Churros con Chocolate Recipe

50 mins

6 people

Prep Time

30 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Total Time

50 mins

Churros con chocolate are a classic Spanish sweet snack made from a choux pastry style mix, piped with a star shaped nozzle into long straight or curled fingers, fried in oil and coated in a mix of sugar and cinnamon. Churros are generally sold by street vendors, who may fry them freshly on the street stand and sell them hot. I still remember buying churros as a child, taking them back to my grandma’s wrapped in paper like fish and chips. She would make the hot chocolate fresh and all the family would sit down and enjoy them. In Spain, churros con chocolate are usually eaten for breakfast or as an afternoon snack, in cafes or specialised churrerias. One very famous place to enjoy authentic churros is Chocolateria San Gines in Madrid, serving hot chocolate and churros since 1894, 365 days a year, 24 hours per day. In this recipe, I pair the churros with a silky hot chocolate made from Toblerone. The small pieces of nougat gives the sauce some extra crunch and a delicious nutty flavour.

Ingredients
Method

For the churros:
250ml water
110g unsalted butter
150g strong flour, use the ‘000’ type
2g caster sugar
2g salt
2 large eggs
Sunflower oil (approximately 1Ltr) for deep fat frying
Caster sugar and 1 tsp of powdered cinnamon for coating the churros
For the Toblerone sauce:
150g Toblerone chocolate
50g Dark chocolate, minimum of 70% cocoa solids
200ml whole milk
100ml single cream
40g caster sugar
Small pinch of fine sea salt
Few knobs of butter

To make the churro paste is very easy, bring the water, butter, sugar and salt to the boil. As soon as it starts boiling, turn the heat off and stir the flour in with a wooden spoon or spatula and mix the batter well to ensure there are no lumps left. You should be left with a smooth paste.
Allow the paste to cool down for a couple of minutes and begin to add the eggs one at the time, beating the mix with a wooden spoon until the paste fully absorbs them.
Pre-heat the deep fat fryer to 180˚C or heat 4 inches of oil in a large, heavy-based frying pan.
Place the churro paste into a piping bag with a star nozzle. For best results, it is important to work with the paste whilst it is still warm.
On the side, prepare two plates, one with kitchen towel to absorb the excess oil and another with the caster sugar and cinnamon mix, so you can coat the churros all over.
When the oil is hot, squeeze from the piping bag a spiral shape long churro, piping as far as the diameter of the fryer or pan can fit. When you reach the end, use a small knife to cut the paste from pouring any further. Use a pair of tongs to dip the spiral in the oil. Once the churro has a golden brown colour, turn to the other side and fry again until golden; be careful as they will not take long.
Remove carefully from the oil, strain the excess oil on the kitchen towel and dip in the sugar and cinnamon mix. Using a pair of scissors, cut the churros to the length you prefer. Repeat this process with the rest of the batter mix.
For the chocolate sauce, place the milk, cream and sugar in a pan and place on a medium heat. Chop the chocolate into small pieces with a knife or use a grater. Just before the milk boils, remove from the heat and add the broken chocolate, stirring well with a wooden spoon or spatula. Bring the pan back to the heat and stir until fully dissolved but without boiling; it should have the consistency of double cream, Season with sea salt and stir in a few knobs of butter to make the sauce silky and smooth.
Serve the hot chocolate in coffee cups, accompanied by the churros and a glass of iced water.

Ingredients

For the churros:
250ml water
110g unsalted butter
150g strong flour, use the ‘000’ type
2g caster sugar
2g salt
2 large eggs
Sunflower oil (approximately 1Ltr) for deep fat frying
Caster sugar and 1 tsp of powdered cinnamon for coating the churros
For the Toblerone sauce:
150g Toblerone chocolate
50g Dark chocolate, minimum of 70% cocoa solids
200ml whole milk
100ml single cream
40g caster sugar
Small pinch of fine sea salt
Few knobs of butter

Method

To make the churro paste is very easy, bring the water, butter, sugar and salt to the boil. As soon as it starts boiling, turn the heat off and stir the flour in with a wooden spoon or spatula and mix the batter well to ensure there are no lumps left. You should be left with a smooth paste.
Allow the paste to cool down for a couple of minutes and begin to add the eggs one at the time, beating the mix with a wooden spoon until the paste fully absorbs them.
Pre-heat the deep fat fryer to 180˚C or heat 4 inches of oil in a large, heavy-based frying pan.
Place the churro paste into a piping bag with a star nozzle. For best results, it is important to work with the paste whilst it is still warm.
On the side, prepare two plates, one with kitchen towel to absorb the excess oil and another with the caster sugar and cinnamon mix, so you can coat the churros all over.
When the oil is hot, squeeze from the piping bag a spiral shape long churro, piping as far as the diameter of the fryer or pan can fit. When you reach the end, use a small knife to cut the paste from pouring any further. Use a pair of tongs to dip the spiral in the oil. Once the churro has a golden brown colour, turn to the other side and fry again until golden; be careful as they will not take long.
Remove carefully from the oil, strain the excess oil on the kitchen towel and dip in the sugar and cinnamon mix. Using a pair of scissors, cut the churros to the length you prefer. Repeat this process with the rest of the batter mix.
For the chocolate sauce, place the milk, cream and sugar in a pan and place on a medium heat. Chop the chocolate into small pieces with a knife or use a grater. Just before the milk boils, remove from the heat and add the broken chocolate, stirring well with a wooden spoon or spatula. Bring the pan back to the heat and stir until fully dissolved but without boiling; it should have the consistency of double cream, Season with sea salt and stir in a few knobs of butter to make the sauce silky and smooth.
Serve the hot chocolate in coffee cups, accompanied by the churros and a glass of iced water.

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Chef's Profile

Javier De La Hormaza

Javier is a Basque born, trained chef and hospitality professional, owner of Basco Fine Foods, a Spanish food and drink importer based in Yorkshire. He regularly runs client food and drink events around the country and he is a course tutor at Hartingtons of Bakewell cookery school. Javier's passion lies on bringing quality Spanish ingredients and recipes to as many people as possible.

Twitter: @bascofinefoods
Instagram: @mrbasco