Churros with Chocolate Dipping Sauce

All my boys loved these! I made them without the dipping sauce because I was out of cream and out of time and they were still super yummy! Use 2 Tablespoons of cinnamon if you like a deeper cinnamon to sugar flavor like we do. Otherwise, 1 Tablespoon should do.  Enjoy!

Gabe claiming the last of the Churros.

1 cup water

1/2 cup butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup all purpose flour

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup granulated sugar

1 to 2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon

vegetable oil for deep-fat frying

Chocolate Dipping Sauce (recipe below)

In a saucepan, bring water, butter, and salt to a boil. Reduce heat and add the flour, a little at a time. With a wooden spoon, stir vigorously until all the flour is completely incorporated and you have a smooth dough, about 5 minutes. The churro dough will begin to pull away from middle of saucepan. Remove from heat; allow to cool for 5 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla extract, and continue to beat well with wooden spoon until dough is smooth.

Spoon dough into piping bag fitted with a large star tip; set aside. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.

Add oil, about 2 inches deep, to a Dutch oven or large saucepan. If using a deep fry thermometer, aim heat at 375 degrees F.

Carefully hold piping bag above oil and pipe 3 to 4 churros, 5 inches in length. Do not overcrowd the Dutch oven as this will cause the oil temperature to drop and the churros will adsorb the oil and become soggy. Fry until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Flip sides once during frying. drain on paper towels and roll in cinnamon sugar mixture. Serve warm with chocolate dipping sauce or alone. Store leftovers in an airtight container.

Makes 16 to 20 churros.

Chocolate Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate, chopped

Pinch of ground cinnamon

Scant 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup heavy cream

Combine chocolate, cinnamon, and vanilla in a bowl. In a small saucepan over low heat, warm heavy cream. Pour heavy cream over chocolate, allow it to sit for 1 minute and whisk until smooth. Serve with warm churros. Refrigerate and leftovers.

Makes 1 cup.

Make a spicy version by adding a pinch of ground cayenne pepper in place of the cinnamon.