Air Fryer Churros

July 8, 2022

Air Fryer Churros

Churros here are choux pastry, the same cooked, egg-enriched dough used for cream puffs and eclairs, piped into ridged lengths and cooked in the air fryer instead of a pot of hot oil. Water, butter, sugar and salt are boiled together, beaten with flour into a smooth paste, then loosened with eggs until it’s glossy enough to pipe through a star tip. The ridges from the tip are what make a churro a churro rather than just a stick of dough.

The air fryer version runs richer in butter and egg than a traditional deep-fried dough needs, because it gives up the fat and heat of an oil bath. That extra richness is what lets a piped strip hold its shape and puff instead of drying out. The result is a crisp, deeply golden shell around a soft, slightly eggy center, ridged on the outside and coated in cinnamon sugar while still hot.

Traditional Spanish churros are eggless and butterless — just flour, water, baking powder and salt — deep-fried and served with thick drinking chocolate. That dough won’t hold together in an air fryer without oil to submerge it in, so this is honestly a Mexican-style churro: the egg-and-butter dough that Mexican cooks use, rolled in cinnamon sugar rather than served plain.

Serve them hot, on their own or with a warm chocolate sauce for dipping.

Ingredients

Makes 10-12 churros

The dough

210 ml water
60 g unsalted butter, diced
12 g granulated sugar
3 g fine salt
125 g all-purpose (plain) flour
2 large eggs, room temperature
½ tsp vanilla extract

The coating

oil spray, for the basket
100 g granulated sugar
7 g ground cinnamon
2 tbsp neutral oil (or melted unsalted butter), for brushing

The chocolate dipping sauce (optional)

120 g dark or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (or chips)
120 ml heavy cream
pinch of ground cinnamon
pinch of salt

Directions

The dough

Bring the water, butter, sugar and salt to a full boil in a saucepan, so the butter is completely melted by the time it boils.

Take the pan off the heat, add all the flour at once, and stir hard until it comes together into a smooth paste. Set it back over medium-low heat and cook for a minute or two, stirring constantly, until the dough pulls cleanly away from the sides of the pan and looks like stiff mashed potato.

Scrape the dough into a bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer) and let it cool for two to three minutes so it doesn’t scramble the eggs. Beat in the eggs one at a time, making sure each one is fully worked in before adding the next, then beat in the vanilla. The finished dough should be smooth, glossy and thick enough to hold a ridge when piped.

Spoon the dough into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Preheat the air fryer to 375°F (190°C) and spray the basket generously with oil so nothing sticks.

Pipe 4-inch (10 cm) lengths straight into the basket, spacing them about an inch apart, snipping each one free with scissors. Give the tops a light spray of oil too — this is what lets them brown evenly instead of coming out pale in spots.

Air fry at 375°F (190°C) for 10 to 12 minutes, flipping the churros halfway through, until they’re deep golden and crisp all over. Cook in batches rather than crowding the basket.

The coating

While each batch is still hot, brush or spray it with oil (or melted butter), then roll it through the cinnamon sugar so the coating sticks.

The chocolate dipping sauce (optional)

For the dip, heat the cream in a small saucepan until steaming but not boiling, then pour it over the chopped chocolate. Let it sit for a minute, then whisk until smooth, stirring in the pinch of cinnamon and salt. Serve it warm alongside the churros.

Notes

For sharper ridges: pipe the dough onto parchment paper and freeze for 15-30 minutes before air frying. Cooking from frozen needs a two-stage cook: 375°F (190°C) for 8 minutes, flip, then 325°F (163°C) for 8 minutes more.
Richer or leaner: for a puffier, crispier churro, scale up toward 3 eggs and about 85 g (6 tbsp) butter for this amount of flour. For a less eggy taste, stick with 2 eggs or cut the butter back.
Spraying the basket generously and flipping halfway through are the two habits that matter most — skip either and you’ll get sticking or pale patches.
Best eaten fresh. They keep about 2 days in an airtight container and re-crisp in the air fryer at 325°F (163°C) for 3-5 minutes.