Easy Baked Churros with Chocolate Sauce

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, I wanted to create something extra special and just as delicious you could share with your loved ones. These churros with chocolate sauce are everything they promise and more! Crispy oven baked churros with a rich chocolate fudge sauce makes for a heavenly dessert, any time of year, but especially on Valentine’s Day!

What are churros?

Churros are a dessert pastry, made with the basic ingredients of butter, water, sugar, salt, flour and eggs. They are traditionally piped and deep fried until golden before being coated in sugar and served with a dipping sauce.

What do churros taste like?

Churros actually use the same ingredients and method used to make choux pastry. However, churros are deep fried not baked, giving them a really crisp outer shell and a soft middle. They are served freshly cooked, normally coated with sugar and a chocolate sauce for dipping.

Are churros from Mexico?

Churros actually originate in Spain and Portugal, but found their way to other countries that became Spanish colonies and settlements. Today, Spanish and Mexican churros have a very subtle difference. Spanish churros are coated in sugar once cooked and served with a thick dipping sauce. Mexican churros are coated in a cinnamon sugar and served with chocolate, caramel or whipped cream, or can even be eaten plain.

What are the ingredients churros with chocolate sauce?

• Butter: I use unsalted butter, so I can control the amount of salt in the churros with chocolate sauce.
• Caster sugar: for sweetness in this baked churros recipe.
• Water: mixed with the butter and sugar and brought to boil when making the chocolate dipped churros.
• Flour: I use plain/all purpose flour to make these chocolate churros. We want no raising agents in this bake, so make sure to use plain flour and not self raising.
• Salt: enhances the flavour of the bake, but it will not be so much that you taste it in the churros.
• Eggs: gives structure and stability to the churros chocolate as they bake.
• Chocolate: I use a mix of milk and dark chocolate to make my chocolate sauce for churros, but you could use more milk or dark chocolate to suit your tastes. Just keep the overall amount of chocolate used the same for the best chocolate fudge sauce ever!
• Condensed milk: gives a wonderful thick, creamy and dreamy churro dipping sauce, perfect for this bake!

What equipment do I need to make this churros with chocolate sauce recipe?

• Digital kitchen scales*: I provide all my measurements in cups, however I would encourage all bakers to weigh out ingredients when baking. A set of digital kitchen scales is so useful and totally an essential baking tool for me.
• Measuring spoons*: a set of measuring spoons is essential for any baker. This is because these are more accurate than using everyday teaspoons and tablespoons, which can vary greatly in size.
• Saucepan*: used to bring the initial pastry mixture to a boil and also to make the dipping sauce for churros.
• Sieve*: to sift the dry ingredients before mixing into the liquids for this churros and chocolate recipe.
• Handheld electric mixer*: a useful tool to make life easier in the kitchen! You can, of course, make this recipe entirely by hand. But it will be quite the workout for your arm when adding the eggs to the pastry!
• Piping bag*: filled with pastry dough before piping out pretty heart shaped beauties for your churros with chocolate sauce!
• Piping nozzle*: Gives a pretty pattern to the dough when it is piped. Can easily be substituted for a round nozzle, or just snip the end of the piping bag before piping!
• Baking trays*: to bake the best churros recipe on!

How to make these Valentine’s heart churros

First make the churros using the choux pastry dough as the base. Bake or air fry them, then make the chocolate sauce, dunk and enjoy!

How to make baked churros

Step 1: Draw heart shapes on pieces of parchment paper large enough to cover the base of the baking trays, being sure to leave some space between the hearts for the churros to spread. I use a thick pen so the shape is easily visible through the paper. Flip the paper over so the ink is underneath and place in the baking trays. Set the trays aside whilst preparing the pastry dough.

Step 2: Place the butter, sugar and water in a saucepan. Heat to melt the butter and dissolve the sugar, then turn up the heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat off and immediately dump in the flour and salt, beating until completely combined and the mixture forms a ball of dough. Set aside for a few minutes to cool.

Step 3: Preheat the oven to 210C/ 410F. If using an air fryer, preheat to 190C/375F. Add the eggs into the flour mixture one at a time, beating thoroughly in between each addition. Transfer this mixture to a piping bag fitted with a star shaped nozzle. Pipe heart shapes using the hearts you drew earlier as a guide.

Step 4: Time to cook the hearts! If using an oven, bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and crisp. If air frying, bake for 14 minutes then flip the hearts and air fry on the other side for a further 5 minutes to brown evenly. Turn the oven/air fryer off and leave the hearts in the oven/air fryer to cool for about five minutes before turning out to a cooling rack to cool completely.

How to make chocolate dipping sauce

Step 1: Place the milk and dark chocolates in a small saucepan. Heat gently whilst stirring continuously until completely melted and smooth. Remove from the heat.

Step 2: Add in the butter and stir until melted and silky smooth. Enjoy immediately by dipping the churro hearts into the rich, thick chocolate sauce.

Can I substitute the eggs when making this churros with chocolate sauce recipe?

Eggs are a key ingredients in this recipe as they give rich flavour and bind the whole churro together. For this reason, eggs cannot be substituted in this churros recipe.

What if don’t have a piping bag?

Piping the churro dough is really easy, and actually a brilliant if you have little or no experience of piping as it is really forgiving a recipe. If you do not have a piping bag, you could also use a large plastic freezer bag with the corner cut off. You will not get the ridged detail as with a star shaped nozzle, but a smooth edged finish to the baked churro hearts instead.

How can I tell my churros are baked?

The baked churros will start quite flat when they go in the oven. As they bake, they will puff up and turn a beautiful golden colour. Once they are fully baked, they will no longer stick to the parchment paper. They will also be crisp and sound hollow when lightly tapped. Remember to poke a few holes in each heart once baked before leaving to cool, to allow for any extra moisture to escape.

How long will these churros with dipping sauce last and how do I store them?

These baked churros will keep for 2-3 days stored in an airtight container. Having said that, they are best served and enjoyed on the day they are made!

The chocolate sauce should be enjoyed as soon as it is made. However, if it does cool down and firm up, simply store at a cool temperature for 2-3 days. Reheat gently (I do this in the microwave) before serving again.

Additional tips for making the best churros recipe

• When making churros with chocolate dip to start with, heat the liquid ingredients to make sure the butter has melted and the sugar completely dissolved. Once this has happened, bring the mixture to a rolling boil before adding in the flour and salt. This step of boiling is really important as it will help the mixture thicken enough to pipe easily. If not, it will end up a loose mixture that will not pipe and just spread in a blob.
• Add all the flour and salt to the liquid ingredients in one go and stir vigorously to combine. The mixture will eventually come together into a thick ball of dough.
• Leave the dough to cool a little before adding the eggs, or you will end up with scrambled eggs in the batter! Whilst on this, keep in mind the dough will still be hot when adding the eggs, so be sure once more to mix vigorously when adding the eggs, doing so one at a time.
• For ease, I like to use an electric hand whisk to beat in the eggs, but you could also use a handheld whisk or a wooden spoon. Please keep in mind that the dough will be very thick and stiff, so you need sturdy tools and a strong arm!
• It may feel the eggs are not combining with the mixture, but be patient and keep mixing. It will come together in the end, I promise!
• When transferring the mixture to your piping bag, make sure to push out any air bubbles and only fill half full. Filling more could result in the mixture pushing out the top whilst piping, leaving you with a bit of a mess! I partly fill my bag, pipe a few churros, then top up the mixture to continue piping.
• Make sure to leave enough space in between piping the hearts for the churros to expand as they bake. This is not only important so they remain separate, but also as it will allow them to brown better if spaced apart.
• Allow the churros to bake until a deep golden brown colour. If the oven is turned off too soon, they may be baked but will remain soft and not be crisp. You want them to be closer to a dark golden colour than a pale one.
• To keep the crisp shell of the churros, I also like to lightly pierce them when removed from the oven before leaving to cool on a cooling rack. This allows any additional moisture in the churros to escape, leaving me with a beautiful crisp churro shell.

Troubleshooting

If you have any questions about this churros dipped in chocolate, please comment below and I will do my best to help. And do remember: if you enjoy this recipe for churros with chocolate sauce, please leave a rating and review below. You could even post a picture on Instagram and tag me when you share it with the world. You already know I would love to see!

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Thanks for joining me today, my friends. Enjoy this beautiful dessert and happy baking! x

Recommended equipment I used *

Digital kitchen scales	Measuring spoons
Saucepan	Sieve
Handheld electric mixer	Piping bag
Piping nozzle	Baking trays