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Air Fryer Churros fried to golden perfection make a delicious dessert for your next Mexican-themed party! Freshly baked and coated with cinnamon-sugar this easy Air Fryer dessert is a lot easier to make at home than you think.
This easy churros recipe makes it so easy to create a classic Mexcian dessert at home with only a few simple ingredients. So much easier to make than deep fried and more delicious than baked churros, this recipe for homemade churros is a family favorite!
what is a churro
Churros are a dessert made from fried dough that is popular in Spain and Mexico. They are normally deep-fried but taste as delicious made in the Air Fryer.
A sweet treat air fried until golden and tossed in cinnamon-sugar that makes a great dessert for every day but is perfect for Cinco de Mayo or your next Mexican-themed party! You have to try this easy Air Fryer Churro recipe!
how to make churros
Making Churros in the Air Fryer is easier than you think. They taste as delicious as deep-fried churros but have fewer calories and are easier to make without the need for handling hot oil. Homemade churros are
What Ingredients Do You Need to Make Churros?
- Water
- Unsalted butter
- Sugar
- Salt
- All-purpose flour
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Oil Spray
For authentic Mexican Churros, you will also need a mixture of sugar and cinnamon to coat the baked churros. This adds flavor, sweetness, and crunch to this simple recipe. The great thing about churros is that you probably have all these ingredients in your pantry!
Tips and Tricks to make the BEST Homemade Churros
- This recipe makes about 35 4-inch long churros.
- It is ok if a few little lumps of flour remain after adding the flour to the saucepan.
- Depending on the size of your piping bags you might have to divide the dough into batches.
- Use a star-shaped tip to get the perfect shapes. I use a Wilton 1M tip.
- If you don’t have piping bags or tips you could also use a ziplock or freezer bag.
- Refrigerating the piped churros makes them easier to handle and they will keep their shape better while air frying.
- Don’t refrigerate the piped churros longer than 1 hour or they will dry out.
- If you have leftover dough you can store it wrapped in plastic wrap overnight. Let it come to room temperature before piping it into shapes, it is very difficult to pipe the cold dough.
- Depending on you Air Fryer you might have to bake the churros in batches. They will increase in size a little bit while baking so leave some room between them.
- Immediately transfer the baked churros to the cinnamon sugar mixture. This makes the sugar mixture stick better to them.
- Churros taste best served warm. They don’t keep well. I don’t recommend freezing the baked churros.
- Serve with warmed up Nutella, Chocolate Sauce (churros con chocolate), Caramel Sauce, or Whipped Cream.
More Air Fryer Recipes you want to try!
Air Fryer Churros
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- oil spray
Cinnamon-sugar coating:
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Put a silicone baking mat on a baking sheet and spray with oil spray.
- In a medium saucepan add water, butter, sugar, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and add flour to the saucepan. Stirring constantly with a rubber spatula cook until the dough comes together and is smooth.
- Remove from heat and transfer the dough to a mixing bowl. Let cool for 4 minutes.
- Add eggs and vanilla extract to the mixing bowl and mix using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer until dough comes together. The mixture will look like gluey mashed potatoes. Use your hands to press lumps together into a ball and transfer to a large piping bag fitted with a large star-shaped tip.
- Pipe churros onto the greased baking mat, into 4-inch lengths and cut end with scissors.
- Refrigerate piped churros on the baking sheet for 1 hour.
- Carefully transfer churros with a cookie spatula to the Air Fryer basket, leaving about 1/2-inch space between churros. Spray churros with oil spray. Depending on the size of your Air Fryer you have to fry them in batches.
- Air fry at 375 degrees F for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.
- In a shallow bowl combine granulated sugar and cinnamon.
- Immediately transfer baked churros to the bowl with the sugar mixture and toss to coat. Working in batches. Serve warm with Nutella or chocolate dipping sauce.
First time trying this recipe. I do not have a piping bag. How do
you cut a zip lock bag in in the corner? Does it still have the correct
shape?
It won’t have the correct shape if you don’t use a star tip. By using a ziplock bag with the corner cut off it will look more like little sausages.
Would I be able to deep dry these? With the extra dough?
Do you mean deep fry? Yes, you could deep fry these churros. I’m not sure what you mean by extra dough?
Mine turned out like a choux for some reason… They didn’t have the right flavor or texture.
Not sure why they didn’t have the right flavor, did you use the cinnamon sugar? Churro dough is basically a choux pastry.
If I don’t want to air fry all of them in one day, could I cover the piped churros and place in the fridge to air fry the next day?
I haven’t tried that but I think it would work as long as you cover them airtight.
Great thanks! Is there a substitute for butter? Like oil or something?
I haven’t used anything other than butter so I can’t say for sure.
If I don’t have a large star tip, can I just pipe with a large circle tip?
My kids LOVE churros. I even had to buy a churro maker/churrera. It’s easier and I’m able to fill them with Nutella, yummy 😋
I loved how light they are, not heavy or filling in my stomach. Easy to make as well!
On what mode of the air fryer did you do it? I have the Pwer XL
Sorry, Sonia, I’m not familiar with that specific air fryer so it’s difficult to recommend a mode. My air fryers all have one standard air fry mode.
Why are mine doughy in the middle?Â
Sounds like you might need to fry them a bit longer.
That’s exactly how they are supposed to be, crunchy on the outside and doughy in the inside
1st time making churros, I made them with gluten free flour & nuttalex butter, fantastic!! All gone. The only disappointing thing was that the sugar didn’t stick to them. Very easy to make. Would use this recipe again.
Maybe spray a little more oil midway through cooking. Should help to crisp up the outside but also provide a means for the cinnamon sugar to stick. Worked for me.Â
These were more like a choux than churros. The texture was very airy, not at all like I was expecting. They were also a bit eggy, so perhaps too many eggs in the recipe? Tasty, but not churros.
Sorry, you didn’t like the result of this recipe! There will always be a bit of a difference between something air-fried and something deep-fried. Not sure why they came out eggy, two eggs is not a lot for a churro recipe, many recipes use double the amount and I never had that problem.