Create café-quality crispy churros con chocolate at home, including a rich homemade chocolate dipping sauce. Simple ingredients, easy to make!
(Love Spanish-inspired desserts? Try these smooth and creamy mini Basque cheesecakes.)
A significant chunk of Filipino cuisine can trace its roots to Spain, we were a Spanish colony for 3 centuries after all.
Filipinos have mostly adapted these recipes to local tastes, like brazo de mercedes and lengua de gato, but others we kept as is. Like churros con chocolate.
If you grew up in Manila like I did, you might be familiar with the churros from Dulcinea. These are just like that!
Crispy churros, mouthwatering chocolate dipping sauce. It’s a dream straight out of Madrid.
Why you’ll love making churros and chocolate
These days you’ll find chocolate filled churros, churros dipped in dulce de leche or caramel, and other variations like this Ritz Bits churros recipe. They’re good but I always go back to the classic churros and chocolate.
- Easy and simple dough. Thick but still able to be piped easily, holds its shape and results to crispy churros. Plus, we don’t use eggs here.
- No-fail chocolate dipping sauce recipe. Just simmer everything in a pot until the chocolate thickens.
- Feeds a crowd. This recipe makes 16 servings though you may want to double as people will for sure want seconds. They’re delicious!
How to make churros con chocolate
There are 3 components to this recipe: the churros, the cinnamon sugar coating and the chocolate dipping sauce.
Ingredients
Churros con chocolate ingredients are pantry staples like butter, salt, flour, and sugar. You can find the full ingredient list with measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of this page.
A few things to note:
- Oil for frying — we usually use canola oil but you can use any neutral oil.
- Chocolate — you can use chopped dark chocolate or dark chocolate chips. I suggest springing for the best chocolate budget allows.
- Milk — we’ve only ever used dairy milk. Whole milk works best.
- Cornstarch — this is what makes the chocolate sauce nice and thick.
Cooking tools
A deep fryer is very handy but a saucepan that’s at least 2 inches deep will work too.
To pipe the churros, we use a Wilton 1M piping tip. You can use a similar star tip but I don’t recommend a smaller one. A larger one can work but will result to thicker churros that will change your cooking time and might also impact the texture.
Step-by-step photos
In a medium saucepan, add water, unsalted butter and salt. Bring to a boil and stir until the butter is melted and the salt is completely dissolved.
Add flour and stir well until a soft, smooth ball forms. Set aside to cool for 5-10 minutes.
Transfer the dough into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip.
Fill another saucepan with oil — at least 2 inches deep — and wait until hot enough to use for frying. If using a deep fryer, set at 355F and wait until ready. Get a baking sheet ready by placing several pieces of paper towels on it. This is where you’ll place the fried churros later to drain excess oil.
When ready to fry, carefully pipe and drop 3-inch pieces of churros directly into the oil. Once you’ve piped the length you need, drop the dough into the fryer by cutting the end of the dough from the piping tip with a pair of kitchen scissors; be careful so that hot oil does not splatter on you.
Fry churros until golden brown (about 3 minutes). Remove from oil and let dry on baking sheet.
While churros are drying, put granulated sugar and ground cinnamon in a wide, shallow dish and stir until combined. Put dried churros on the dish and gently turn until evenly coated. Repeat until you’ve coated all the churros.
To make the chocolate churro dipping sauce, in a medium saucepan on medium heat, add chocolate, ¾ cup milk and granulated sugar. Stir until chocolate is melted. Switch to low heat and bring to a simmer.
Dissolve cornstarch in ¼ cup milk and add to the melted chocolate. Stir until the chocolate thickens (when you lift the spoon you should get a smooth drizzle of chocolate and not choppy drops).
Remove from heat, add a pinch of salt and give the chocolate one final stir.
Expert tips
Here are tips for perfectly crunchy churros every time.
- Allow the cooked flour to cool. If you transfer the dough to your piping bag while still hot, it might just melt the bag! So allow to cool for about 5-10 minutes. It will still feel hot but more manageable.
- Use a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. This makes nice, professional looking churros with those characteristic ridges.
- Ensure your oil is hot enough. You can drop a piece of dough to check if it sizzles and fries immediately. If you’re using a deep fryer, set the temperature to 355F.
- Watch churros while frying. The churros tend to gravitate towards each other and stick together while frying. So don’t crowd your pan and if they do stick just gently pull them apart with tongs.
- Dry to remove excess oil. This ensures they remain crispy for longer.
Recipe FAQs
Churros are best enjoyed freshly made. If you have leftovers, store them in a covered container on your counter. They should keep up to 3 days.
Reheat in a toaster oven or in an oven preheated to 350F to bring back some of that crispiness.
You can freeze cooked, uncoated churros though note that the texture won’t be the same as freshly made ones.
Ensure your churros are completely cooled and drained of oil before placing in a freezer-safe container. They should keep for at least a month.
To reheat, pop in a toaster oven or in an oven preheated to 350F.
You can use a large Ziploc bar with a corner cut out. You won’t get the nice ridges but your churros will still be delicious!
We tested making churros in an air fryer and while they also came out crispy, they weren’t as crispy as the deep fried ones and the texture took on a rubbery feel. It also tasted a little weird!
So while it is technically possible, we do not recommend it.
More delicious fried recipes
Want to keep frying? Check these out:
We love making churros con chocolate. It reminds me so much of times spent with my mom in our favorite Spanish restaurant. It’s one of our favorite comfort foods!
And that chocolate sauce for churros? Frankly, I can drink that on its own it’s so good.
Happy frying!
Did you make this churros con chocolate recipe? I’d love to hear all about it! Leave a comment or a star rating below. You can also tag me on Instagram or Facebook. I’d love to see your creations!
You can also find me on Pinterest and YouTube.
Easy Homemade Churros con Chocolate
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Churros:
- 1 cup water
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- oil for frying preferably canola or another neutral oil
For the Coating:
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
For the Chocolate Dipping Sauce:
- ⅓ cup dark chocolate chopped, or dark chocolate chips
- 1 cup milk divided into ¾ and ¼ cups
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1½ tsp cornstarch
- pinch salt
Instructions
For the Churros:
- In a medium saucepan, add water, unsalted butter and salt. Bring to a boil and stir until the butter is melted and the salt is completely dissolved.1 cup water, ¼ cup unsalted butter, ¼ tsp salt
- Add the flour and stir well until a soft, smooth ball forms. Set aside to cool for 5-10 minutes.1 cup all purpose flour
- Transfer the dough into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip.
- Fill another saucepan with oil – at least 2 inches deep – and wait until hot enough to use for frying. If using a deep fryer, set at 355F and wait until ready.oil for frying
- Get a baking sheet ready by placing several pieces of paper towels on it. This is where you’ll place the fried churros later to drain excess oil.
- When ready to fry, carefully pipe and drop 3-inch pieces of churros directly into the oil i.e. once you’ve piped the length you need, drop the dough into the fryer by cutting the end of the dough from the piping tip with a pair of kitchen scissors; be careful so that hot oil does not splatter on you.
- Fry churros until golden brown (about 3 minutes).
- Remove from oil and let dry on baking sheet.
For the Coating:
- While churros are drying, put granulated sugar and ground cinnamon in a wide, shallow dish and stir until combined.¼ cup granulated sugar, ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- Put dried churros on the dish and gently turn until evenly coated. Repeat until you’ve coated all the churros.
For the Chocolate Dipping Sauce:
- In a medium saucepan on medium heat, add chocolate, ¾ cup milk and granulated sugar. Stir until chocolate is melted. Switch to low heat and bring to a simmer.⅓ cup dark chocolate , 1 cup milk, 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- Dissolve cornstarch in the remaining ¼ cup milk and add to the melted chocolate.1½ tsp cornstarch
- Stir until the chocolate thickens (when you lift the spoon you get a smooth drizzle of chocolate and not choppy drops).
- Remove from heat, add a pinch of salt and give the chocolate one final stir.pinch salt
Video
Notes
- Estimated nutrition information is based on 16 3-inch churros. You can make yours shorter, longer or a different shape.
- The churros tend to gravitate towards each other and stick together while frying. So don’t crowd your pan and if they do stick just gently pull them apart with tongs.
- You may want to double the cinnamon sugar coating to make it easier to coat the churros. However, note that you will end up with lots extra.
- It’s best to make the chocolate sauce right before eating the churros. If the chocolate cools and seizes, you can make it smooth again by microwaving it for a few seconds and giving it another stir.
- See post for more tips, FAQs and step-by-step photos.
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only.
Louisa
Bookmarked! I love churros especially the chocolate dip! Looks like it took quite a few tries to get it right but you did! Love your blog design. Very neat yet colorful 🙂
Jolina
Thanks for bookmarking Louisa! Let me know how it turns out when you get the chance to try the recipe out. And thanks for your kind words about the blog 🙂
Krysten
Haha! That great churro fiasco! I have definitely had some recipes that I feel turned out like that!
The final product looks amazing! I love churros so much! I will have to try this asap!
Jolina
Thanks Krysten! I’ve had many, many fiascos on the kitchen haha 🙂 I feel the look still needs tweaking but I’m happy about it at moment 🙂 Hope you like it as much as we did!
Bessy
This recipe is so awesome! I love your persistence to get it just right:) I’ve had churros con chocolate in Barcelona, but I have to say the best churros I had were in Mexico from a street cart vendor who was piping them right into the oil. They were so light and chewy and delicious. He was like a dream because when I went back for more the next day, I couldn’t find him again. Nice work on this recipe and thanks for sharing:)
Jolina
You don’t know how happy you made me! I thought me piping directly into the oil was a last resort kind of thing – ha! pros do it too 🙂 Hope you get the chance to try this recipe. Let me know how it compares to the Barcelona or the Mexico churros
Ali
OMG! I am coming over for Churros. Those look like something I’d order from a bakery not make myself. I might have to give this one a try.
Jolina
Come on over Ali! Though I have to say we’ve eaten every last bit lol. It’s very easy to make, it will surprise you 🙂 (Barring any fiascos though I am certain you’re a better cook than me!)
Annie
Oh my goodness, these look amazing!! Churros are one thing I’ve yet to master, but these look glorious!! I need to make some ASAP!
Jolina
Thanks Annie! Apart from my fiasco they are surprisingly quite simple to do 🙂 Try it once and you won’t pay $$ for this at a restaurant again.
Ann
oh yeah!Now this is what I’m talking about. BTW- I try to stay away from hot oil too but I’ll brave it for these little bites of happiness.
Jolina
Oh I stayed away. Good thing my cook is not a scaredy cat like me haha. Try this Ann, they are delicious (and that chocolate sauce)
Carrie
Yum! Both my husband and I love Churros! So I will definitely have to try to make these.
Jolina
Awesome! Hope you and your husband enjoy this Carrie 🙂 Let me know how it goes.
Robin
I remember these churros…Dulcinea! Can’t wait to make them
Jolina
That’s exactly the restaurant I was referring to! I loved it there 🙂 These churros taste like the churros there as I remember them 🙂 Hope you get the chance to try these out!
alison
These look insanely amazing! I am making a batch this weekend! They look spectacular to me and covered in that sugar and cinnamon and chocolate you don’t have to worry about the shape! Totally made my night!
Jolina
That’s great Alison! And you’re right the sugar and cinnamon do a nice job of masking imperfections 🙂 Let me know how your churros weekend goes 🙂
Liz Mays
Oh cool! I think it would be fun to try making some of these. I’m glad you were able to figure out how to make them!
Jolina
I was glad too 🙂 It was fun and the anticipation of the end result is even better. Thanks for passing by Liz!
Nya
Oh damn I love churros ! This is actually very cool and original to write about your multiple attempts ! I will try to do this but it will take time ! I’ll need to do more attempts than you I’m sure to make them good ! Haha
Jolina
Hahaha thank Nya 🙂 It’s important to remain authentic right? I’m sure you’ll do just fine 🙂 Let me know how it goes.
Lily Travella
These look absolutely delicious! I love churros and I love chocolate even more! Great version and cheaper than buying them out too!
Jolina
Thanks Lily! And you’re right, so much cheaper making them at home. Plus you know what’s in them 🙂
Freya Farrington
They look delicious, Churros are my absolute favourite! However, if you struggled, I’ll have know hope!
Jolina
Thanks Freya! They are one of my favourites too 🙂 And I’m sure you’ll do better than me! 🙂
Ana De- Jesus
I love chocolate churros they are so good especially if you add bananas into the mix yum yum!
Jolina
Bananas are such a great idea! I will try that next time 🙂 Thanks Ana!
Suchi
Looks like all your efforts paid of girl! I love churros. I alway get one in a mexican restaurant but never had one from Spanish place. This looks so good and easy, well apart from frying. Like you I rather stay away from hot oil had oil splatters recently!
Jolina
Thank goodness for that Suchi! And thank goodness I REALLY wanted churros that day lol. I really don’t know how different they’ll be, except that maybe the Spanish ones are lighter? And yes, let us all stay away from hot oil! 🙂