Air Fryer Churros
Here’s one more reason to love your air fryer – air fryer churros! They are nearly as good as regular churros, way healthier, and you don’t have the mess of fry oil.
I made fried and air fried churros in the same day so I could directly compare the two. The air fryer ones were a lighter color and perhaps slightly more dry (not surprising), but they were really tasty. If I didn’t have the other ones right there for comparison, I probably wouldn’t have known the difference!
It’s worth giving this recipe a try for a special treat that is really easy to make.
Ingredients
There are no unusual ingredients in this recipe. In fact, you may already have them all in your pantry.
To get the distinctive churro shape, you’ll need a pastry bag fitted with a star piping tip. I used a Wilton 1M [paid link].
Of course, you’ll also need an air fryer [paid link]. It doesn’t matter what brand you use. The only thing to consider is that the larger the basket size, the more churros you’ll be able to make at once.
Instructions
Churros are made with choux pastry. Choux (also called pâte à choux) is the same base that is used for fancy desserts like eclairs and profiteroles, so once you’ve mastered this recipe, you can move on to some other impressive treats.
To prepare the choux, add water, milk, butter, sugar, and salt to a saucepan and bring to a boil.
Remove from heat and immediately stir in flour. Heating the flour at this point causes the starch in it to gelatinize, which which will help the pastry hold onto steam and puff up when you later fry it. When you stir the flour in, the whole batter should come together to be a thick dough.
Let it cool for 10 minutes before adding the eggs – you don’t want to cook them. And, add a splash of vanilla along with the eggs.
Mix it all up with an electric mixer until it is smooth.
Load your choux pastry into a piping bag fitted with a star tip and pipe strips of dough onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. You’ll need to use a knife or a scissors to cut the dough at the end of each strip. Make sure the strips are a size that will fit in your air fryer basket. I found that 4″ long was a good length for mine.
Freeze the churros for about one hour.
Spray the air fryer basket with a thin layer of cooking spray. Remove the churros from the freezer and, working in batches, add some to the air fryer basket. Put the unused ones back into the freezer until you’re ready to use them.
Give the churros a light coating with the cooking spray. You can also brush on a tiny bit of vegetable oil instead.
Air fry at 350 F for 15 minutes.
When the churros are done, place them in a paper bag filled with cinnamon and sugar and gently shake to coat them.
Eat hot, dipped in Mexican chocolate sauce, dulce de leche, or cajeta!
Expert Tips and FAQs
They are best right after you make them. However, I have been known to eat these up to one week after making them. I just pop them in the microwave for a few seconds to warm them up first. They aren’t as good as the fresh ones, but they’re still quite enjoyable.
Yes! I love making heart-shaped churros for Valentine’s Day. You can definitely get creative with this recipe.
Put the frozen churros in an airtight container in the freezer. You can air fry them whenever you are ready to make them.
Related Recipes
- Churros with chocolate sauce
- Churro cupcakes
- Mexican chocolate sauce
- Dulce de leche
- Cajeta
- Hand pies (You can also make these in your air fryer!)
Air Fryer Churros
Ingredients
Churros Ingredients
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter chopped into pieces
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
Churros Instructions
- In a large saucepan on medium-high heat, bring water, milk, butter, sugar, and salt to a boil.
- Immediately remove from heat and stir in flour until it forms a ball.
- Leave it to cool for five minutes.
- Mix eggs and vanilla into the dough with an electric mixer until it forms a smooth batter. Don't worry if it separates at any point. Keep mixing and it will come together.
- Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a star tip (such as a Wilton 1M).
- Pipe 4" lines of dough onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment. Use a knife or kitchen scissors to cut the dough at the end of each strip.
- Freeze for one hour.
- Lightly mist the bottom of an air fryer basket with cooking spray (or spread a little vegetable oil on it).
- Load the basket up with frozen churros in a single layer. Return the unused churros to the freezer.
- Lightly mist with more cooking spray or brush a little vegetable oil on top of each churro in the basket.
- Air fry at 350 F for 15 minutes.
- As soon as you remove the churros from the air fryer, carefully shake in a paper bag filled with cinnamon and sugar until evenly coated.
- Repeat cooking steps until all churros are done.
- Serve warm.
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