Bring your favorite theme park treat home with these homemade churros made into mini bites. This is the Disney churro recipe with step by step photos and tips to make them perfect every time.
If you’re missing your favorite churros at Walt Disney World or Disneyland, don’t despair. You can make them at home with this easy to follow recipe. And if you never had a churro before then you need to try these mini homemade churros. Crunchy little bites of fried dough coated in cinnamon sugar are too good to resist. Serve them warm with a side of chocolate dipping sauce for the best sweet treat.
This Disney churros recipe comes together with basic ingredients found in your pantry. The recipe requires frying the churro batter in oil, but it’s a relatively easy process. No fancy equipment or mixer required. Coat them in cinnamon sugar to create a delicious little bite-sized treat.
What is a churro?
A churro is a fried dough pastry made from a mixture of flour, butter, eggs and salt. The dough is fried until they become crunchy and is sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar. They are typically sold in long pieces or small bites.
Churros taste like a little fried dough ball coated in cinnamon sugar.
Churro Ingredients
Make homemade churros with a few basic ingredients. Gather the ingredients and prepare the dough.
- Flour – All purpose flour works best.
- Butter – Use unsalted butter. You can use salted butter in a pinch, but you may need to reduce the additional salt in the recipe.
- Eggs – Helps form the batter.
- Salt – A necessary ingredient for the batter.
- Cinnamon – Adds flavor.
- Sugar – Use granulated sugar.
- Canola or Vegetable Oil – For frying the churros.
- Optional: You can add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract to the dough for more sweet flavor, if desired.
You will also need a pastry bag and large star tip to form the churros.
How to Make Homemade Churros
- Prepare the churro batter – Add the water, butter, salt and cinnamon to a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir and bring the mixture to a roiling boil. Turn off the heat and vigorously stir in the flour with a rubber spatula until the mixture forms a ball. Set aside and let it rest for 7 minutes.
- Heat the oil – Heat 1 1/2 inch of oil in a deep saucepan or deep skillet over medium-high heat. Once the temperature reaches 350 degrees F on a candy thermometer, the churros are ready to cook. Be VERY CAREFUL as the oil temperature is very hot.
- Make the churros – Scoop the dough into a piping bag fitted with a 1/2″ closed star tip. Pipe 1-inch strip of dough (up to 2 inch pieces of dough) over the saucepan. Cut them off with a knife and drop into the oil.
- Fry churro bites – Fry the bites until golden and crispy. You can fry them in small batches of ten to twelve. Remove them with a slotted spoon or mesh spider strainer. Drain churro bites on a paper towel.
- Coat the homemade churros in cinnamon sugar – Roll the dough bites in cinnamon sugar mixture. Serve them warm or with chocolate sauce.
Tips for Making Mini Churros
- Use a candy thermometer for the temperature.
- The churro dough batter should relatively thick, such that it forms small stable pieces of churro when pipped through the star tip. The batter should not be thin and runny.
- Use a 1/2″ closed star tip for pipping. Ateco 846 tip is used for these churros, but Ateco 845 would work too. A Wilton 1M also works okay. The closed star tip helps create more defined edges for the perfect consistency and crispy texture.
- Small pieces of dough will fry quicker and easier than large pieces. You do not want to use too large of a star tip or have pieces that are too long. They will not cook through completely or evenly and you will be left with a doughy inside. Follow the directions here for perfectly crispy churros.
- When the churros are golden brown remove them from the oil. When in doubt, fry a little longer so that they are crispy. If undercooked, they are raw and doughy in the center.
- Use any leftover homemade churros to make delectable Churro Cupcakes. You won’t regret it!
- Serve the homemade churros with chocolate sauce, caramel sauce or your favorite dipping sauce. Use store-bought chocolate sauce or homemade by melting chocolate chunks or chocolate chips.
This recipe was adapted from the original Disney churros recipe posted on the Disney Parks Blog. After making these homemade churros a few times, we made a few minor adjustments and added our own tips to help you create perfect churros every single time.
Did you try this Disney churro recipe? Leave a recipe rating and review below.
Homemade Churros (Disney Recipe)
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable or canola oil
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
Instructions
- Add water, butter, salt and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon to a small or medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir and bring the mixture to a roiling boil.
- Turn off the heat, add flour and stir vigorously with a rubber spatula until mixture forms a ball. Set aside and let rest for 7 minutes.
- Add eggs, one at a time, and stir until combined. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a deep medium-sized skillet or 1-quart saucepan over medium-high heat or until the temperature reaches 350 degrees F on a candy thermometer.
- Spoon the dough into pipping bag fitted with a large closed star tip. Carefully pipe 1 to 2 inch strips of dough over the saucepan, cut with a knife and drop into the hot oil. Repeat until churro bites fill saucepan with room to fry being careful not to overcrowd. I usually fit about 8 small churros in a small saucepan.
- Fry churros until golden brown, stirring occasionally at the beginning to prevent them from sticking to each other. Remove with a slotted spoon or wire skimmer and drain on a plate or baking sheet lined with paper towels.
- In a small bowl, whisk together sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Toss the churro bites until coated. Serve warm or with chocolate sauce, if desired.
Notes
- You can use a plastic bag with the corner cut off instead of a pipping bag with a tip, but you need to make sure the hole creates no larger than 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch wide size churro. Too thick and your churros will not cook through completely. We highly recommend using the star tip to create crispy edges.
- Nutritional information is an approximate calculation based on this recipe yielding 35-40 mini churros. However, depending on your size and the amount of oil used in the process, the nutritional information can significantly vary. Consult an online nutrition calculator for the most accurate information.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
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Really easy steps and there so good ☺️
HEAVEN! That is the only way to describe these homemade churros. Pure joy when you can’t get to Disney.