Disney Churros

Have you ever gone to a theme park, or a restaurant and thought, “Man, that food was so good, I wish I could make it at home.” If you’ve been to a Disney theme park, and had one of their famous churros then you probably know what that feels like. Well, thanks to Disney, now you can make them.

More than 5.5 million churros are sold each year by Disney in its parks. A tutorial video on how to make those iconic churros at home in 2018 was released by the Disney Parks YouTube channel, but the organization, which has closed its parks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has  posted  the recipe on its blog to help individuals get through social distance.

The best part, besides eating them of course, is that there are no super-complicated ingredients in the churros recipe, so there is a solid chance that anything you need is already in your pantry right now. So before you get started, here’s a few tips:

• If you want to make full length churros, make sure they will fit in your pan! (But honestly, I recommend making the bites, they’re so much easier and still taste just as good)
• If you are using a piping tip and bag, I strongly urge you to use a Coupler, because the batter/dough is quite thick and your bag might pop
• For the piping tip I used a Wilton 1M

Ingredients

• 1 Cup water
• 8 Tablespoons butter/margarine
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon, divided
• 1 1/4 Cups all purpose flour, or a gluten-free blend
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 Cups vegetable or canola oil
• 1/2 Cup sugar
• Plus piping bag and tip

Instructions

• Make the churro dough by combining the water, butter, salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of the cinnamon in a sauce pan over medium heat. Let the mixture melt and come to a rolling boil. Then, reduce the heat to low
• Next, add the flour. Stir the dough vigorously until the mix forms a ball. It’s going to look very thick, but that’s OK! Once the mixture is well-combined, remove it from the heat and let it rest for 5-7 minutes. This resting step is ESSENTIAL, because if the dough is too hot, it could cause the eggs to scramble.
• To finish the dough, add the eggs, one at a time, stirring well after each addition. The finished dough should be smooth and well-combined.
• Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until the temperature reaches 350F. While the oil is heating, spoon the churro dough into a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1M tip (Or any large star tip) New to deep-frying? Read this first.
• Tip: No piping bag? No problem. You can easily use a plastic bag with one of he corner tips cut off. Just be aware that finished churros will have a cylindrical shape instead of those iconic grooves.
• Now comes the fun part: It’s time to fry the churros! I recommend piping 1-inch strips of dough over the saucepan, cutting with a knife and then dropping the dough into the hot oil. Repeat until the pan is full but the bites still have room to fry. Cook the churros until they’re golden brown on all sides, you might have to flip them. Remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon, then place on paper towels to drain.
• Finally, you’ll want to add that signature sweet-spicy dust (Lol it’s not that spicy really). Mix together the sugar and remaining cinnamon in a medium bowl. Add the still-warm churros and toss until coated. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce!