Churros!

A much-loved sister to the doughnut, Churros seem as though they’re probably just as fiddly to make. But in reality, Churros are a breeze! It’s a simple dough that doesn’t need to be kneaded or proved: ingredients-to-tummy can be just 30 minutes. Total dream!
Churros originated in Spain and Portugal, but variations on the recipe are common in Mexico too. Some versions of the Churros recipe are very similar to a choux dough, including egg for the rise. I have chosen to create my version from a dough risen with baking powder instead, to make the recipe even easier.
Many Churros are served hand-in-hand with a bowl of something delicious to dip into (chocolate sauce, salted caramel etc) but here, cinnamon is king! It’s present both in the dough and in that sugar liberally coating the outside.

Ingredients

• 50g butter
• 1tbsp caster sugar
• 1tsp baking powder
• 1tsp cinnamon
• 300g plain flour
• 250ml boiling water
• Plus you will need:
• caster sugar and cinnamon for coating
• flavourless oil for frying

Method

1. Pour the boiling water and the butter into a jug and stir until the butter has melted.
2. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon to a large bowl, and mix well.
3. Pour the water and butter mixture into the flour mixture and stir well to combine. The resulting dough should be quite sticky, but still a little firm. If it is too wet, it will struggle to hold its shape when piped. If it is too firm, you will struggle to squeeze the dough through the piping nozzle! To rectify, add a little extra flour to the former and water to the latter.
4. Leave the mixture to rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
5. IPour oil into a saucepan to a depth of 6cm. Heat the oil to around 180ºC (please be careful – hot oil causes nasty burns. Do not leave oil on a hot stove unattended).
6. While it’s heating, get a wire rack ready with some paper towels underneath to catch excess oil drips. In a bowl, mix some caster sugar and cinnamon to dredge the cooked churros.
7. Spoon the dough into a piping bag fitted with a wide star piping tip.
8. Once the oil is hot, pipe the dough direct into the pan in strips. Fry the churros for a few minutes until brown and crispy.
9. Once cooked, remove them carefully from the pan with tongs and place on the wire rack to cool. You might need to fry the churros in stages, so as not to overcrowd the oil.
10. Once all the churros have been cooked, coat liberally with the sugar and cinnamon mixture … and swiftly devour!