It’s crazy to think but it’s been a month since I went to Mexico!
One of my favorite moments about traveling is the food experiences everywhere you go. I knew prior to going to Mexico that I HAD to find real Mexican churros.
I wanted to taste the authentic churros that everyone raves about. You know, not the ones you get at Costco.
And as sad as it is, the only ones I had prior to Mexico were the ones from Costco! I never made it at home myself and I had never been to Mexico prior to the cruise so the only basis of churros I had was one from a warehouse store, lol!
I had the opportunity to go to Puerto Vallarta.
To say I fell in love with that place is an understatement. Prior to the trip, I had no idea what to expect with Puerto Vallarta. I have heard of the place but I didn’t do any prior research.
I guess that’s one good thing about a cruise; they kind of do it all for you. They set up your excursions and they let you explore the city at your leisure.
In the morning, we had a quick excursion and then we had the entire afternoon to explore. After we got back to the ship to freshen up; we hit the town.
The best advice: hire a taxi for half a day. They’re reasonably priced and the taxi drivers are all locals aka they know the spots!
Our driver took us to this restaurant called El Dorado and it was right on the beach. It was beautiful and the food was amazing. The margaritas were on point and the authentic fish tacos and ceviche were fabulous.
We kept telling our driver that we wanted authentic Mexican churros and he said he knew of one place.
ONE, in all of Puerto Vallarta! I think it was also the season we were there; it wasn’t busy season, but thankfully, since our driver was a local, he was able to show us.
It was literally a small stand on the side of the road. I wish we had gotten more than we did. We had to split it amongst four of us and it went fast ;)
Piping hot, straight from the fryer, the lady quickly tossed that ring of fried dough into a cinnamon sugar mixture and then using kitchen shears, broke the ring into equal pieces and tossed it in a brown paper bag.
After we got our authentic Mexican churros, we hopped back into the taxi to head back to the ship – grinning ear to ear that we achieved our goal on the first day of port!
These homemade Mexican churros were perfection on a Saturday morning.
We had these the same weekend as the homemade apple cider doughnuts and seriously, the two best mornings.
Fried warm dough tossed in cinnamon sugar. Can’t beat that!
Tips for making homemade Mexican churros:
The best tip I can offer you for making Mexican churros at home is to work fast.
Once you’ve got the dough formed, the egg part is tricky.
You obviously don’t want it to scramble but working fast and stirring vigorously will ensure it doesn’t scramble.
Additionally, using a piping bag with a star tip (I used a Wilton closed star-tip kind of similar to this one) will give you the classic ridges that are so prominent with churros.
I could eat these Mexican churros all day.
They seriously rival the real authentic Mexican churros we had in the streets of Puerto Vallarta but I’m sure theirs is still way better.
I’m honestly dreaming of the next time I can go back to Mexico and get myself an authentic Mexican churro.
I guess for now, I’ll just stick to my homemade Mexican churros!
You should give them a try too :)
Homemade Mexican Churros
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 1/4 cups water
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 stick of cinnamon
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 quart canola oil, for frying
Instructions
- In a saucepan over medium-high heat, melt butter then add water, salt, vanilla, and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil then remove the cinnamon stick and remove the mixture from heat.
- Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until a smooth dough is formed, about 3-5 minutes.
- Let dough cool, about 10-15 minutes then transfer to a bowl and add the egg. Stir vigorously until egg is incorporated. The mixture is pretty hot so you have to stir vigorously so the egg doesn't actually cook and you get scrambled eggs :)
- Transfer dough to a piping bag fitted with a closed star tip. Set aside.
- In a shallow bowl, mix together sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a Dutch oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Hold piping bag above oil and pipe about four 6-inch lengths of dough. Fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes, flipping every so often with a spider strainer.
- Transfer to paper towels to drain briefly then transfer to cinnamon-sugar mixture and roll around until evenly coated. Repeat with remaining dough in piping bag.
Notes
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Wow, how could it get any better than this? Churros for the win, Baby!
These are a must make!
Don’t you just love cruising! The food is always the best part!! Your churro looks perfect.
What?! I might have to seriously make these today! Too fun!
I’ve never made churros at home….clearly that needs to change!
Do you recommend eating these right away?! Wouldn’t be good to bring to work for a cookie swap, right? Just checking haha
Yes, definitely eat them right away! Haha, I wouldn’t bring them for a cookie swap, but I have a bunch of other holiday-themed treats here: https://www.tablefortwoblog.com/category/holidays-2/christmas/
Can the dough be made ahead of time?
I haven’t tried that before. I imagine you could and just let it sit out at room temperature for 15 minutes prior to frying it.
Do you have to use canola oil, or would veggie oil work?
Canola oil has a higher smoke point so using that would be better for frying.
How many 6-inch churros does this make?
about 5 dozen, sorry! just added it
do you have to use a dutch oven ?
No, you can use any heavy-bottomed pot.
can you use gluten free flour??
I haven’t tried with GF flour so I’m not sure what the consistency or texture will be; or if it will even work.
Would these taste good if they were reheated?
No, these need to be eaten immediately.
Sound yummy. Did u split/score the vanilla bean or drop it in straight from the spice jar?
Hope to make w granddaughter soon.
LOVE Princess Cruises…GREAT MEMORIES!
Thanks!
I didn’t say anything about using a vanilla bean! It was just vanilla extract. The tiny dots you see in the photo is the ground cinnamon in the cinnamon sugar mixture :)
Hi! Love this recipe and have made it before! I was making it today for a party I have in a couple days and I doubled the recipe, I know see that my mixture is lumpy. I don’t remember if it was like this before or if something went wrong. Could you give me any tips on how to make it less lump?
It’s probably due to the flour. I would suggest sifting the flour to get all the clumps out and it makes it finer so perhaps you won’t have clumps.
Great recepie came out great
I like it this recipe and very nice
I made these tonite and the churros, churro bites, came out delicious. Thank you so much for taking the time to post the recipe. :D
I liked the recipe so much. It was so easy to cook and the result was so delicious!
Those aren’t Mexican churros. They’re lies. They look good, but their lies.
They literally exploded in the oil. They got done on the outside and we’re doughy inside. Help! What did I do wrong?
Honestly, no idea since I wasn’t there with you but what you’re describing…it sounds like your oil was way too hot if the outside was done and the inside was still doughy. Kind of like a cookie or cake in an oven that’s too hot..outside crisp/done and inside not done.
Have you ever tried freezing them? I need to make up a bunch ahead of time.
No, I haven’t tried this.
Is it possible to use salted butter? If so would I leave put the kosher salt?
Yes, exactly!
WHAAAAT! I love churros, Churros tonight for dessert baby
Very very nice loveed this recipe so far the best ?
I made these today for our annual cul-de-sac competition dinner party. The theme was Mexican… and I won! So thank you for your great recipe…. it was excellent! I did add a silky chocolate ganache dipping sauce and my daughter made tiny little Mexican flags on tooth picks.
ahh love it!!! congrats ;)