Hanukkah Churros Recipe on Food52 (2024)

Fry

by: Cordelia

December17,2009

4.4

5 Ratings

Makes 20-25 churros

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Author Notes

I decided to consider these as fried cookies, since I thought that Hanukkah also deserves some representation. Why churros? Because traditionally we make doughnuts for Hanukkah and I fell in love with churros when I went to Mexico. Also,though it messy I like to play with pastry piping bags. So why not churros? The home made ones are so fluffy. I don't try to fill them with jam like traditional Hanukkah doughnuts, but I do make even tastier sauces on the side. But watch it, they are really impossible to stop eating. And yes, you have to fry them right before serving. - Cordelia —Cordelia

Test Kitchen Notes

We first fell in love with the concept of churros for Hanukkah -- a spicy-sweet twist on the traditional doughnuts, or sufganiyot. Then we tasted Cordelia's version and decided we needed this recipe around for the other 357 days of the year. A light, golden shell and eggy sponge-like interior, swabbed in any of Cordelia's festive trio of sauces, will make you forget every leaden state fair churro you've ever met. Note: Our Nutella seized in the microwave, but heating slowly on the stovetop, stirring occasionally, worked like a charm. - A&M —The Editors

Test Kitchen-Approved

What You'll Need

Ingredients

Churros
1 cup of all purpose flour
3 eggs
1 cup of water
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of sugar
1/2 stick of butter
1/2 cup of sugar for dusting the churros
2 teaspoons of cinnamon for dusting
Vegetable oil for frying (about 3 cups)

Sauces
3/4 cup of Nutella
1/4 cup heavy cream
1.5 cup of frozen strawberries (or fresh)
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Juice from half a lemon
Small can of sweet condensed milk

Directions

Churros
Put the water, 2 tablespoons of sugar and the butter in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and add the flour and mix quickly and firmly with a whisk until ball is formed.
Take of the heat and mix in the eggs one at a time. Mix in the vanilla extract.
Let the dough cool down a bit and then transfer to a pastry piping bag with a big star tip. Heat the oil in a medium sauce pan (oil should be about 2 inch deep) until very hot, but not smoking. Squeeze the dough into the hot oil in sections of about 4 inches. Fry the churros for 2-3 minutes on each side until they puff up and deep golden brown on the outside. Fry 4-5 doughnuts at the time, do not crowd the pan too much.
Spread the 1/2 cup of sugar (and the cinnamon if you want) in a shallow dish. Take the churros out of the oil, let them drip the excess oil for a little bit on a plate with a paper-towel and then transfer to the sugar and roll the churros in it until cover well. Serve immediately with the sauces on the side.

Sauces
Nutella sauce: Warm the Nutella and the heavy cream in a microwave for 2 minutes until the Nutella is soft and melted. Mix well before serving.
Strawberry sauce: put the strawberries and sugar in a small saucepan and cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes. The sugar should caramelize a bit and the strawberries are soft and break down. Put in a food processor with vanilla and lemon juice and process until very smooth.
You can serve the sweet condensed milk as is or cook on medium heat for about 10-15 minutes while mixing until reduced down and caramelize.

Tags:

American
Chocolate
Milk/Cream
Fruit
Fry
Winter
Hanukkah
Dessert

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19 Reviews

Nina December 6, 2018

I have been making these every Chanukah since I first read and saved the recipe in 2009. I always made the dough a few hours before dinner, and fried them, with teamwork, after dinner. Making the dough hours before worked just fine. Yesterday I made the dough 8 hours before frying, putting the dough in the pastry bags [2] and let it sit all day in the frig, because of my schedule. I also, for the first time, made them at home, then packed them up in 3 separate paper bags [lunch bag size] so they wouldn't get soggy, and brought them to a dinner party. To my delight they were still crisp and yummy! Certainly they are the best hot out of the fryer, rolled in cinnamon sugar, but it was nice to know I could bring them to an event if desired! Great recipe!

Stephanie G. July 19, 2012

Can these wait in the pastry bag while we eat dinner? I want them to be served immediately.

Cordelia July 27, 2012

Probably not a good idea, the dough will become to sticky and tough, it might not puff-up right. it is so quick to make the dough that it will add just few more minutes. Good luck and enjoy.

Brenzo November 13, 2011

I made these a couple weeks ago - delicious, especially when warm.

ChefJune December 10, 2010

Oh my goodness. What a great concept! These sound like a must'-try, especially when the "grands" are around. Congrats on the Wild-Card win.

gingerroot December 10, 2010