Traditional churros are deep-fried. For a lighter version, I’m baking them, with a sprinkling of sanding sugar, to create crispy puffs perfect for dipping in dulce de leche, chocolate sauce, or both! There are delicious brands of premade dulce de leche available online. But a very inexpensive way to make your own is the following oven hack—it’s an easy do-ahead technique (you’ll want it ready before you start on the churros themselves). My chocolate sauce, the quintessential churro dunk, is a thinner version of chocolate ganache (make it once the churros are in the oven).
Ingredients
For the dulce de leche:
- One 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
For the churros:
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons sanding sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
For the chocolate sauce:
- 4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
- 4 ounces half-and-half
Directions
Step 1
For the dulce de leche: Preheat the oven to 425°F. Scrape the condensed milk into a pie plate and cover it tightly with foil, scrunching the edges under the lip of the pie plate to create a seal. Place the pie plate in a roasting pan and fill it with an inch of hot water. Place the roasting pan in the oven and bake for about 80 minutes. Carefully lift a corner of the foil to see if the color is a deep caramel brown; if not as dark as you like, return the pan to the oven for another 10 minutes. When done, carefully lift the pie plate from the roasting pan and let cool slightly before whisking the dulce de leche vigorously to remove any lumps. Transfer to a dipping bowl.
Step 2
For the churros: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed sheet pan with parchment.
Step 3
In a medium saucepan, whisk together the water, olive oil, sugar, and vanilla. Bring to a boil on the stovetop. Add the flour all at once and stir with a wooden spoon until a dough ball has formed. Let cook, stirring, for about 1 minute. Off the heat, whisk in the egg (you can also do this in a food processor) until you get a smooth batter.
Step 4
Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a 3/4-inch star nozzle. Pipe 3-inch lengths onto the parchment-covered pan, leaving about an inch between them. Mix the sanding sugar and cinnamon in a small dish and sprinkle generously over each churro. Bake for 25 minutes until golden and crispy.
Step 5
For the chocolate sauce: Place the chocolate
and half-and-half in a tall mug or small bowl. Microwave for 2 minutes, then whisk until smooth.
Yields about 20 churros