Every culture has their own version of fried dough and with Cinco de Mayo right around the corner, it’s the perfect time to share my recipe for Mexico’s version of fried dough. This vegan version of Churros, that I developed for Flora Plant Butter, is served with an ancho chile chocolate dipping sauce in case you need to make these churros even more irresistible.
When making churros, the dough or batter is bit different than most other fried dough recipes as churros are made from choux pastry. Choux pastry is cooked quickly on the stove, then beat with an electric mixer before being piped into hot oil. Piping the dough with a star tip gives the churro lots of surface area resulting in all of the delicious crispy edges that we love. A thicker star tip will give you a nice tender, airy dough inside. If you want crispier churros you can use a thinner star tip.
Churros are easier to make than you think. When making the churros, be sure that your oil is hot enough. It really pays to use a thermometer to be sure you oil is at and stays at the right temperature. Don’t overcrowd the pot when cooking. Cook about 3 to 4 churros at once. Use a scissor to cut the churros as you pipe them into the oil. If you don’t want to pipe directly into the oil, you can pipe onto parchment paper and then transfer to the hot oil.
This churro recipe is vegan, so uses flax meal instead of egg. You can certainly replace the flax meal with an egg if you prefer.
- 3/4 cup cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon Flora™ Plant Butter Unsalted
- 1/2 cup dairy free chocolate coarsely chopped
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract,
- 3/4 teaspoon ancho chile powder
- vegetable oil for frying
- 1 tablespoon flax meal
- 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons water, divided
- 1/4 cup Flora™ Plant Butter Unsalted
- 1 tablespoon cane sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-
Combine sugar and cinnamon; set aside.
-
Combine chocolate, vanilla and ancho chile powder in small bowl.
-
Heat coconut milk and Flora Plant Butter in small saucepan until bubbling.
-
Pour coconut milk mixture over chocolate and stir until melted. Keep warm.
-
Heat about 1-1/2 inches vegetable oil in large pot or deep skillet over medium-high heat to 360 degrees.
-
While oil is heating, combine flax meal with 3 tablespoons water; set aside.
-
Add remaining 1 cup water, Plant Butter, sugar and salt to medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add flour, reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring constantly, about 3 minutes or until mixture comes together and is smooth.
-
Transfer mixture to large bowl and cool 5 minutes. Add flax meal mixture and vanilla and beat with electric mixture on low speed about 2 minutes or until mixture comes together and is smooth.
-
Transfer dough to 16-inch piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Use a star tip about 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide. Carefully pipe mixture into hot oil into about 6-inch in length; cut ends with scissor. Fry 3 to 4 churros at one time. Don't overcrowd the pot or it will drop the temperature and the churros will stick together.
-
Fry about 2 minutes per side, until golden brown. Transfer to paper towels to dry briefly then transfer to cinnamon sugar mixture and roll to coat.
-
Repeat process with remaining dough. Serve warm with chocolate sauce.
Be sure to monitor the oil temperature. If the temperature drops too low, churros will not form properly. If it gets too high, churros will brown too much. Don't overcrowd the pot. Fry 4 to 5 churros at one time.
A thinner star tip will give a crisper churro. The number of churros will vary with the size of the star tip and the length of the churro.
