Skip the freezer aisle and get dipping with this fast, fresh and crowd-friendly recipe for Easy Churro Bites.
Churros and I have a storied history. One you may have read about way back in 2013, when I first shared a favorite churro recipe. Well, you hot, crispy, fried nuggets of delicious dough, we meet again.
But this time, they are in the form of churro bites. So what does this mean? If you have my same approach to fried dough (ahem, doughnuts are a food group around here), that translates to one thing: You can eat endless churro bites and not actually keep track of the quantity, which means they’re way better than your average size churro.
It’s sort of like how you can eat an entire bag of baked potato chips and convince yourself that it was a way better decision than eating half a bag of the deep-fried version. Not that I’m an expert on that type of thing, but I digress…
This recipe for Easy Churro Bites has been a long time coming. There’s just something about a miniature size dessert that ignites my taste buds and has me running to swap the skinny jeans for sweatpants.
And believe me on this one, you will want to be full-on stretch-panting in preparation for this recipe, because one taste of these hot, crispy, golden brown, deep-fried and perfectly poppable churro bites will leave you contemplating whoever invented skinny jeans in the first place.
Enjoy them freshly rolled in cinnamon and sugar, or get fancy with a dipping sauce or three for the ultimate in dunking pleasure. I like the trio of warm chocolate sauce, caramel sauce and strawberry sauce to really cover all of the flavor bases, but no one’s going to say “no” if butterscotch or raspberry sauce make an appearance.
They are as good as you hope they are and as satisfying as you need them to be. So why go big when small is just too good to pass up?
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Ingredients
- 1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons sugar, divided
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more for frying
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
Equipment:
- Deep-fry thermometer; sealable plastic bag or piping bag; star-shaped pastry tip (optional)
Instructions
- In a shallow dish, whisk together ½ cup sugar with the cinnamon and set the mixture aside.
- In a small nonstick saucepan set over medium-high heat, whisk together the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, ½ teaspoon salt and 1 cup water. Bring the mixture to a boil then remove it from the heat and stir in the flour until a ball forms.
- Transfer the churro dough to a piping bag fitted with a star-shaped tip (optional).
- Add about 4 inches of vegetable oil to a stockpot set over medium-high heat and attach the deep-fry thermometer. Line a baking sheet with paper towels.
- Once the oil reaches 360°F, pipe the churro dough into the hot oil and use scissors to cut the dough every 1/2-inch as it releases into the oil. (Do not overcrowd the pan!) Fry the churro bites until they are golden brown on all sides then using a slotted spoon, transfer them to the paper towel-lined baking sheet.
- Allow the churro bites to drain for 2 minutes on the paper towels then transfer then roll them in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Repeat the frying, draining and coating process with the remaining dough, returning the oil to 360°F between batches. Serve the churro bites warm with your choice of sauces.
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Recipe by Kelly Senyei of Just a Taste. Please do not reprint this recipe without my permission. If you'd like to feature this recipe on your site, please rewrite the method of preparation and link to this post as the original source.
I followed this recipe exactly as instructed .The dough was very stiff and it would not come out of pastry bag .When I finally squeezed some out ,golden brown on outside and raw inside .
Hi Angie – I’m sorry you didn’t have success with this recipe. Did you use a deep-fry thermometer? That will guarantee both the inside and outside cook correctly.
Tried this recipe because we had a late night craving, we were not expecting much.
I followed this recipe to a T and it is now a staple dessert in our home! Hubby said best churro bites he’s ever had.
I’m so thrilled to hear that you’re enjoying the recipe, Danielle!
If I don’t have a star shaped tip what should I do? I tried to make different variations but they came out uncooked in the middle, do you know why that would be happening? Or how to fix it? I tried cooking it for longer and all it did was make the outsides crispy
Hi Max – Did you use a deep-fry thermometer? That will guarantee both the inside and outside cook correctly.
Yum!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe, Rebecca!
I made these tonight hoping that they would be good. We’ll they came out exceptional and my finicky kids devoured them!! Will definitely be making them again. So simple with only a few common ingredients.
Awesome! I’m so glad your family enjoyed the churros, Ginette!
I loved these! There were so easy to make and were so much fun to hand out to my family members! My twin brothers absolutely loved them! Can’t wait to make again!
I’m so thrilled you enjoyed the recipe, Ansley!
very tasty but an alternative for vegetable oil could be canola oil or melted butter
Thanks for your comment! Canola oil would work great but I wouldn’t recommend deep-frying in butter, as it has a much lower smoke point.
While the dough was good, I fried these just like you said, followed the instructions, and were still really doughy. Even cooked a few longer to see if that would help, still didn’t. Not sure what went wrong!
I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy the recipe, Mehana. Did you use a deep-fry thermometer?
Wanting to make these for end of Reading month celebration. How many churros does 1 batch make? Thanks in advance.
Really hard to say, Laurie! Maybe 40 pieces?
Found this recipie and wanted to get it a shot, so yummy!
I’m thrilled you enjoyed it, Julie!
I decided to make these at the last minute for taco night. I just wanted a small batch of churros and didn’t use the recipe I normally use (which is basically a choux dough). I was disappointed in these. They were very bland tasting, tough and seems like all I could taste was the oil.
Sorry you didn’t enjoy the recipe.
This turned out very good and my little brothers loved them
I’m so happy to read this, Harley!
Easy Churro Bites…..Made these for a school project..Turned out great!!!! Fun to make.
Awesome! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe, Dee!
Made this up for dessert tonight and was so impressed with how easy it was and how great they came out
i had to make 2 batches of these amazing things, also you can make different sizes with the same dough too i made some fry ones and normal sized ones and the regular bite sized one and extra small bite sized ones
10/10 Amazing; we love it for breakfast and snacking
I’m so thrilled you enjoyed the recipe, Jacob!
Thank you this so a very good recipe little hard to find out how big I wanted them personally but all in all pretty good I’d just recommend I little less sugar for coating it maybe 1/3 cup instead
I’m so thrilled you enjoyed the recipe, Naomi!
Can you use coconut oil
I haven’t tried that substitution so I can’t say with certainty what the results would be. Let me know if you give it a shot, Joe!
Can you make beforehand and reheat?
Hi! Because these are deep-fried, they really should be served immediately after they’re cooked, so I wouldn’t recommend making them ahead of time.
can you use olive oil?
Hi there! You definitely do not want to be deep-frying with olive oil. You’ll need to use vegetable or canola oil. Olive oil doesn’t have a high enough smoke point so it’s going to make whatever you try to fry get burned very quickly. Hope that helps!
My hispanic mother approves! Thank you so much for the dish!
Woohoo! I’m so thrilled you enjoyed the recipe, Jasmin!
I tried making my first fried food, and WOW what a fab recipe! Thanks so much!
Would it be okay to bake this same dough? And what settings should I use?? I want to have this so much more but I feel guilty eating fried food haha
I’m thrilled you enjoyed the recipe, Ree! And I’ve never tried baking the churro bites so I can’t say with certainty what the results would be.
I made it and eaten in minutes!!! This the best recipe, thanks.
I’m thrilled you enjoyed the recipe, Riana!
I was a little scared t trying this recipe because it didn’t have butter or eggs but my family loves it and this is perfect for lunch bag desserts for next school year or the summer.
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe, Kelly!
Loved it had so much fun making it with my family
So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I was skeptical at first because it did not call for butter or eggs! But I just made them and it was absolutely FIRE!!!! It was so delicious and easy to make! I will be making these for every special occasion!
YESSSS! I’m so thrilled you enjoyed the recipe, Lauryn!
About how many does it make,I have a big family and wondering if 6 servings would be enough. (I’ve seen you say it depends on how thick/ big you make the dough but when you make it how many does it typically make if you had to guess?)
Really hard to say! maybe 40 pieces?
Excellent and simple recipe. Made then with my little brother We had fun and made for good memories!
Love this! So thrilled you and your brother enjoyed the recipe, Lauren!
Two questions-
~Can I fry them in canola oil?
~I’m not quite sure if the thermometer I have is for deep frying . How can I tell? It says it goes from -58 to 392 degrees F
Hi Jenny – Yes, you can deep-fry with canola oil. It’s hard to say what kind of thermometer you have without seeing it, but you’ll want to use one that can clip-on to the edge of your stockpot.
what if you don’t have a thermometer
Hi Marcia! You can drop a small amount of dough into the fryer to test the oil temp (but a thermometer ensures the most accurate frying time!).
Very surprised at how good these turned out!
I did add 1/2 tbs of vanilla to my batter
Delicious and super quick
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe, Kiley!
The recipe is amazing. However, for some reason when my family and I made them, no matter how long they were in the deep fryer, they were still doughy on the inside. How do you make them so they aren’t doughy?
Hi Bella! My guess is the churros were likely too large/thick or your oil wasn’t at the right temp. Did you use a deep-fry thermometer? That will guarantee both the inside and outside cook correctly. :)
I made this and they turned out delicious but is it possible to air fry churros?
I’ve never tried that so I’m not sure!
My students and I love this recipe!! We cook estos churritos on our early out viernes and para holidays. A surefire hit, easily cooked in our classroom.
Love hearing this, Beverly!
Roughly is 6 serving of the way you cut the churro yeild around 2-3 or maybe more cups? I have to serve this to a lot of people (its a large party) so i need to know how much i need to multiply this recipe.
Hi Jenni! It really all depends on what size you cut the churro bites and how thick you roll the ropes.
Can I make these ahead? How long will they keep?
Hi Linda! They really are best enjoyed fresh :)
Can I use my deep fryer?
Sure!
Roughly how many does this make? It says 6 servings but how many in a serving?
Hi Jonathan! It totally depends on what size you cut the churro bites and how thick you roll the ropes.
I love it!!
Hay you forgot something in the ingredient list: WATER 1 CUP
Thank you for catching that, Kim. Updating now!