19 Churro Recipes That Are a Cinnamon Lover’s Dream
No judgment, but in case you haven’t had the immense pleasure of eating a fresh churro, it’s a fried treat made by piping dough (traditionally choux pastry) into hot oil. You’re likely familiar with Mexican-style churros, which are coated in cinnamon sugar and sometimes served with chocolate or dulce de leche for dipping.
In other parts of Latin America or the U.S., you can find them stuffed with either of these or various fruit fillings. But the dessert actually originated in Spain; as the story goes, it was created as an impromptu substitute for fresh bread and named for the ridged horns of the Churra sheep, native to Iberia. This type of churro is served sans-sugar. No matter how you like them, read on for 19 churro-inspired and straight-up churro recipes that you’ll want to make on repeat.
10 Churro Recipes
1. Simple Churros
- Time Commitment: 20 minutes
- Why I Love It: <30 minutes, beginner-friendly, kid-friendly
Complete with two-ingredient dark chocolate dipping sauce. Spring for caster or superfine sugar for the cinnamon-sugar coating to give it the ideal texture and minimize graininess.
2. Churro Bites with Chocolate Sauce
- Time Commitment: 40 minutes
- Why I Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly, beginner-friendly
The key to authentic-looking churros is using a star tip to pipe them into the oil. These minis are just right for feeding a crowd, since they’re designed for easy grabbing.
3. Spanish-Style Churros
- Time Commitment: 40 minutes
- Why I Love It: <10 ingredients, beginner-friendly, kid-friendly
If you’re someone who never turns down an old-fashioned doughnut, Spanish-style churros are right up your alley. If you want to minimize the fuss, roll the dough into a long snake shape and snip it into pieces instead of piping it.
5. Pumpkin Churros
- Time Commitment: 55 minutes
- Why I Love It: beginner-friendly, special occasion-worthy, kid-friendly
With pumpkin puree in the churro dough, these treats are bound to turn out impossibly moist on the inside. Make the churros ahead to save time after dinner and reheat them in the oven at 350°F for a few minutes until they’re crispy again.
7. Keto Churros
- Time Commitment: 35 minutes
- Why I Love It: keto-friendly, low carb, gluten free
Almond flour and xanthan gum are used to give the wheat-free churros an authentic texture, while a monk fruit allulose blend stands in for sugar in the cinnamon coating.
8. Red Velvet Churros
- Time Commitment: 40 minutes
- Why I Love It: kid-friendly, beginner-friendly, crowd-pleaser
Not only are the churros made with vibrant red velvet emulsion and cocoa powder, but they’re also served with both Nutella-dark chocolate and tangy cream cheese frosting dips for good measure.
9. Savory Herb Churros with White Queso Dip
- Time Commitment: 50 minutes
- Why I Love It: crowd-pleaser, special occasion-worthy, beginner-friendly
This cheesy twist on churros may be unconventional, but we promise you won’t mind once you taste them. (Come on, there’s fresh thyme, chives and grated Parm in the dough.)
9 Churro-Inspired Recipes
11. Churro Saltine Cracker Toffee
- Time Commitment: 25 minutes
- Why I Love It: <10 ingredients, crowd-pleaser, make ahead, kid-friendly, beginner-friendly
Lovers of sweet-and-salty confections and white chocolate will have a hard time *not* devouring the whole baking sheet at once. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
12. Churro Waffles
- Time Commitment: 20 minutes
- Why I Love It: <30 minutes, crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly
A recipe this delicious calls for hosting Sunday brunch. Crown your stack with chocolate sauce, caramel, whipped cream or maple syrup.
13. Churro Ice Cream
- Time Commitment: 4 hours (includes freezing time)
- Why I Love It: make ahead, kid-friendly, special occasion-worthy, crowd-pleaser
Silky smooth ice cream + doughy churro pieces + cinnamon-dulce de leche swirl = the most mind-blowing homemade scoop you’ll ever eat. Feel free to use store-bought or frozen churros instead of making your own to save time.
14. Churro Cheesecake
- Time Commitment: 50 minutes
- Why I Love It: crowd-pleaser, make ahead, kid-friendly, beginner-friendly, <10 ingredients
Believe it or not, these simple bars only require six ingredients to come together, most of them pantry staples. Chalk it up to using store-bought crescent roll dough as the base.
15. Baked Churro Doughnuts
- Time Commitment: 25 minutes
- Why I Love It: <30 minutes, beginner-friendly, kid-friendly, make ahead
For those of you who love churros but hate squaring off with a spitting pot of oil. Instead of being fried, these cinnamon-y delights are baked in doughnut pans.
16. Banana Bread Churro Bites
- Time Commitment: 30 minutes
- Why I Love It: kid-friendly, beginner-friendly,crowd-pleaser
The recipe calls for using Spoon Fork Bacon’s chocolate chip-coconut banana bread, but we won’t tell if you use your favorite store-bought loaf as a shortcut instead.
18. Churro Cupcakes
- Time Commitment: 1 hour and 15 minutes
- Why I Love It: make ahead, crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly
Save yourself a ton of time by buying canned dulce de leche instead of boiling your own condensed milk. (Just don’t skip the crushed hazelnuts in the cinnamon sugar.)
19. Churro Ice Cream Sandwiches
- Time Commitment: 1 hour and 35 minutes
- Why I Love It: crowd-pleaser, kid-friendly, <10 ingredients
Velvety, cold vanilla ice cream is the ultimate match for crispy, warm churros. Have napkins at the ready before digging in—these sammies will get messy fast.
Taryn Pire is PureWow’s associate food editor. A former bartender and barista, she’s been writing about all things delicious since 2016, developing recipes, reviewing restaurants and investigating food trends at Food52, New Jersey Family Magazine and Taste Talks. When she isn’t testing TikTok’s latest viral recipe, she’s having popcorn for dinner and posting about it on Instagram @cookingwithpire.
Food Editor
- Contributes to PureWow's food vertical
- Spearheads PureWow's recipe vertical and newsletter
- Studied English and writing at Ithaca College
