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Overhead view of a hand dipping a churro into a bowl of chocolate ganache.
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5 from 1 vote

Pumpkin Spice Churros with Chocolate Dipping Sauce

Pumpkin spice adds an extra dose of mouthwatering flavor to this easy-to-follow homemade fried churros recipe served with a rich chocolate dipping sauce.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Cool Time10 minutes
Total Time1 hour 5 minutes
Course: Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine: Mexican, Spanish
Servings: 6
Calories: 758kcal

Equipment

  • Stand mixer or electric hand mixer
  • Open star piping tip (I recommend Wilton 1M)
  • Pastry bag
  • Large, deep pot (a Dutch oven works great)
  • Candy or instant-read thermometer
  • Fry tongs or spider whisk

Ingredients

Pumpkin Spice Sugar Topping

  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice*

Churros

  • 1 cup water
  • 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes
  • 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice*
  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • vegetable oil or canola oil, for frying

Chocolate Dipping Sauce

  • 4 ounces chocolate baking bar semisweet or bittersweet, chopped
  • ½ cup heavy cream

Instructions

Prepare the pumpkin spice sugar topping.

  • Add the sugar and pumpkin pie spice to a shallow dish. Stir to combine and set aside.

Make the churro dough.

  • In a medium saucepan, combine water, butter, sugar, and salt. Heat the mixture over medium-high heat until the butter melts and the mixture comes to a boil. Then reduce heat to medium-low and remove the pan from the heat.
  • Sprinkle flour and pumpkin pie spice over the liquid in the pan and stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until a dough begins to form.
  • Return the pan to the heat and continue to stir vigorously until the dough is smooth, forms a ball, and stops sticking to the sides and bottom of the pan as you stir. This should take about 30 to 60 seconds. (If you want to be sure that the dough is ready for the next step, check its temperature by sticking an instant read thermometer into the center of the ball of dough. The temperature should be between 165°F and 175°F).
  • Transfer the dough to a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer and let cool for 5 to 10 minutes. (The goal is to let the dough cool enough that the eggs won't coagulate when they're added in the next step. You can be certain that the dough is cool enough by testing it's temperate with an instant read thermometer and making sure it's below 140°F. Or press your finger into the dough and if you can comfortably leave your finger in the dough for a few seconds it should be cool enough.)
  • Add one egg and beat the dough using a mixer (handheld electric or stand) on medium speed until blended. Add the second egg and vanilla to the dough and beat again on medium speed until blended. Then beat the dough for another minute. The dough should be smooth, thick, and sticky.
  • Transfer the dough to a pastry bag fitted with a star piping tip (I recommend using Wilton 1M).
  • If you want your churros to be straight, briefly freeze the dough before frying. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and pipe 6 inch strips of dough onto the parchment, using a clean pair of kitchen scissors to cut each strip of dough away from the piping tip. Place the baking sheet in the freezer and chill dough for 30 minutes before frying. (Tip: Hold the piping tip an inch up off of the parchment so that the dough falls down to the parchment when it's piped. If you pipe directly onto the parchment the way you would onto a cake the churros will end up flat on one side.)

Fry the churros.

  • In a Dutch oven or large skillet with deep sides, add about 2 inches of vegetable oil and heat the oil over medium-high heat until it reaches 350°F to 375°F. Use an instant read thermometer or candy thermometer to monitor the temperature of your oil, and adjust the heat as necessary while cooking to maintain an oil temperate between 350°F and 375°F.
  • Carefully pipe the dough into the oil in 6-inch strips, using a clean pair or scissors to cut the ends of each strip. Cook no more than 5 churros at once so that they don't become overcrowded in the oil.
  • Cook the churros until golden brown, about 4 minutes, carefully turning with fry tongs or a spider whisk so that they brown evenly on all sides.
  • When finished cooking, quickly transfer the churros to a plate lined with a paper towel to blot any excess oil before coating the churros.

Coat the churros.

  • Carefully roll the hot churros in the pumpkin spice sugar mixture. It's important to roll the churros in the sugar mixture immediately, while the oil is still hot, so that the sugar sticks to the churros. Place the coated churros on a wire cooling rack.
  • Repeat this process with the remaining dough until all churros are cooked and coated with the pumpkin spice-sugar.

Make the chocolate dipping sauce.

  • Place the chocolate in a medium, heat-proof bowl. Set aside. Heat the heavy cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until hot but not boiling. Pour the hot heavy cream over the chocolate and let sit for one minute to let the chocolate melt. Gently stir the mixture until smooth.

Serve the churros.

  • Serve the churros immediately, while still warm, with the chocolate dipping sauce.

Notes

Storage: Churros are best when served fresh, but leftovers can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. Churros will become soft while they sit, so reheat them on a baking sheet in a 350°F to crisp them back up before serving. 
*Pumpkin Pie Spice - Use a store-bought spice pumpkin pie spice blend or make your own by whisking together 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, ¾ teaspoon ground ginger, ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground allspice, and ¼ teaspoon ground cloves. Add 1 teaspoon of this mixture to the churro dough and use the rest for the spiced sugar coating.
I highly recommend using a pastry bag to pipe the dough into the fry oil. A plastic storage bag is not a great substitute, since it isn't as strong as a piping bag and could bust open at the seams when you try to pipe the dough. If you're determined to make this recipe without a pastry bag, your best bet is to put the dough into a gallon-sized plastic bag and snip off one corner to create a hole with a half inch diameter. You will not be able to use a piping tip with a plastic bag, since the thick dough will pop the bag's seams open. Pipe the dough straight out of the bag into the oil and proceed with the rest of the recipe. Note that your churros won't have the signature ridges without using a piping tip.
Your churros should have a nice, crispy outside and a moist (but fully cooked) inside. The temperature of your oil makes a big difference in the texture of your churros. If your churros are golden on the outside but underdone on the inside, your oil is too hot, causing the outside to cook quickly without giving the inside a chance to cook properly. In this case, reduce the heat of your oil. If your churros are chewy, they need to be cooked a bit longer so that the outside has time to crisp up. You may need to reduce your oil temperature slightly if cooking the churros longer so that the outsides don't burn. If your churro is crispy throughout, it's overcooked. Try cooking your churros for a shorter time or reducing the temperature of your oil.
The chocolate sauce will thicken as it cools, so you'll want to prepare it immediately before serving. If it cools and you'd like to soften it, add ½ teaspoon vegetable oil to the mixture and heat (on the stove or in the microwave) very briefly on low heat until the mixture is smooth again.

Nutrition

Serving: 5churros | Calories: 758kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 63g | Saturated Fat: 22g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 22g | Monounsaturated Fat: 16g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 107mg | Sodium: 131mg | Potassium: 127mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 29g | Vitamin A: 723IU | Vitamin C: 0.4mg | Calcium: 41mg | Iron: 2mg