Churros con Chocolate

It was a dark and cold morning and I've got nothing to eat. Rain was at it's worst last Saturday and I could not go out to buy anything.

As I was doing my rounds in the blog world, I saw the fantastic Joy the Baker post a mouthwatering recipe for homemade churros with warm dark chocolate sauce. Yum!!!

Here in the Philippines we call these yummies Churros con Chocolate. And no one does this better than Dulcinea! I haven't had churros from Dulcinea in years! My stomach complained and it was time to get it on :-)

Very easy!

Churros with Warm Dark Chocolate Sauce (Churros con Chocolate)
Recipe from Joy the Baker (adapted from the NY Times)

For the Churros:

• Canola or vegetable oil, for frying - I always use canola because this is the only oil we have in the house
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter - I use salted and just skip the salt (below) or reduce it in half
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt - I skipped this.
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 large eggs

For the Chocolate Sauce:

• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chunks - I only had chocolate bar so I chopped that
• scant 1 cup heavy cream - I used an all-purpose cream
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon espresso powder (optional) - First optional ingredient I used :-)

1. Add enough oil to a large saucepan or deep skillet to measure 2-inches deep. Attach a candy/deep fry thermometer to to side of the pan.
2. In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, melt butter, water, 1 tablespoon of sugar and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and add flour all at once. Quickly stir together with a spatula until no lumps remain, and the mixture begins to form a ball. This will take about 30 to 45 seconds. Remove from heat and place loose dough ball in a large bowl.
3. With a spatula, beat the eggs into the dough one egg at a time. The mixture may appear to be a broken mess, but keep stirring. Keep the faith.
4. After the eggs are added, the mixture will be slightly gummy and slightly thick. That’s perfect.
5. Spoon batter into a large pastry, or strong Ziplock bag with a Aceto 829 (large open star) tip attached. - I used a D'Chef tip.
6. Heat the oil, over medium heat, to 350 degrees F.
7. Carefully pipe about 4 inch long dough segments into the hot oil. Use a pair of kitchen sheers to cut the dough from the star tip. It’s hard not to splash yourself with hot oil, just be as careful as possible.
8. Fry dough for 5 to 7 minutes. This might seem like a long time, but the dough through the center needs to cook through. The churros will be a deep golden brown, and may split slightly when cooked. I think Joy the Baker made 2-inch long churros. I made mine smaller so they're bite-size. Keep an eye on the timer. Remove churros from hot oil and place on a paper towel.

To make the chocolate sauce:

1. Place chocolate chunks, pinch of salt, and espresso powder (if using) in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Pour the heavy cream over the chocolate pieces. Let rest for 1 minute before whisking. Whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Serve warm with warm churros. - I had to add more chocolate to the sauce because it appeared too thin. I didn't want to chop more chocolates so I just added 1/4 cup unsweetened chocolate powder.

Joy the Baker tossed her churros in a cinnamon-sugar mixture after frying. I skipped this - cutting some calories! LOL!

I didn't let the churros brown in oil. I want the pale, soft in the middle type similar to Dulcinea's.

This is surprisingly easy to make and fun too! The plateful of churritos :-) were wiped out in less than an hour.

I had leftover chocolate sauce but it did not go to waste. My resourceful daughter brought it to school and bought bread - she ate it like Nutella!

Pawis rating 1 of 5 super easy!