These homemade mini churro bites are made bite-sized and BAKED in the oven instead of fried making them a bit healthier! I serve them with an easy chocolate sauce that you'll love dipping into.
This recipe also can be made with or without eggs!
These mini churros one of my most popular recipes for a reason!
Mini churros are like mini doughnuts and who doesn't like doughnuts right? This churro recipe is great because it only LOOKS complicated. I get many reviews as to how "easy" these are to make. Plus, they are not fried!
I know churros are traditionally deep fried but I promise you...you will not hate the baked version one bit. Plus, you can eat more of them because they are healthier! (That's fair logic right?)
I love serving mini churros to guests because they are a fun sweet treat that both kids and adults LOVE. Plus, they can be made in advance and will stay fresh for a few days just like my Fried Oreos or my Vanilla Pudding Puppy Chow recipe. (Definitely try those out!)
Don't forget to check out my other sweet party snacks!
A Little Bit About Churros
Churros are a fried dough/pastry also called a "choux pastry". (the 'x' is silent!) Choux dough is used to make profiteroles, croquembouches, éclairs, French crullers and beignets!!
So if you know how to make a good choux dough, you really can make multiple French desserts!
You will honestly feel like a professional pastry chef after making these. And because the main ingredients in choux dough are typically butter, water, flour and eggs, it is NOT hard to do.
Once your choux dough is mixed, you can add it to a plastic baggie and toss in the fridge. Then you can pipe and bake them off quickly when you're ready to serve dessert. I love doing this when company is at my house. Guests feel special when you serve them warm desserts! You can even get them to help piping!
If you love cinnamon and sugar coated treats, try my fried apple pie fries!
Ingredient Notes/Substitutions
- Eggs- Believe it or not, eggs are actually not a necessity to make churros! So if you're VEGAN, don't go anywhere!!! Omitting the eggs will just result in crunchier churros which is how they traditionally prepare them on the streets in Mexico! The consistency will not be as cakey or soft, but they will still come out delicious.
- Milk- You have some options here. If you are dairy free or don't have whole milk, you can use skim, almond, coconut, soy milk or even WATER! Milk will give your churros a richer taste so go with that if you don't have a preference.
- Butter- Butter is important here and is what will help your churros crisp up nicely and give your baked churros a delicious flavor. You can substitute with vegan butter if you wish.
- Vanilla extract- This is not a traditional ingredient but it gives SO much flavor to your churros. Frankly, I don't know why someone would not want to add in more yumminess!
Steps:
Step 1: Add your flour, salt and sugar in a separate bowl and set aside. Place your water, milk, butter and vanilla in small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Grab a wooden spoon in the meantime.
Step 2: Once boiling, add your flour mixture and stir with the spoon until mixture comes together in a ball. This should only take 10 seconds or so. Do not over mix! Turn OFF heat and add your egg. Mix until egg is combined with the dough.
Step 3: Once dough has slightly cooled, add it to a piping bag with a star tip or a Ziploc bag. Pipe mini churros onto a greased baking sheet in little ‘logs” about 2″ long. (see photo above.) They will not expand so you do not need to leave much room in between them.
Step 4: Bake at 400F on the top shelf for about 15 minutes or until inside is JUST cooked through.
Step 5: While baking, combine your cinnamon and sugar in a large bowl or another Ziploc bag. Toss your churros in this mixture right when they come out of the oven!
*See complete ingredients and instruction below!
Baking Tips
Note* Traditional or "authentic" churros recipes are typically NOT made with eggs. Using eggs will give you a "cakier" consistency rather than a "crunchier" one.
Now...the tricky part is piping your dough onto a sheet pan NEATLY.
I highly suggest getting yourself a one GOOD piping bag with a standard smaller star tip like this one here.
Don't have a fancy tip or piping bag? No problem!! Keep reading.
Make a DIY Churro Piping Bag!
If you do NOT have a piping bag, you can simply make your own!
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Most of us have plastic (Ziploc) bags so hoping you have one, you will fill your bag and then cut off the corner until you have a hole about the size of a nickle/quarter.
You won't get the pretty star look to your churros but that's okay!
Make sure you use a STRONG bag, not the ones from the dollar store! I like to use the freezer bags for this. They are much more durable.
If you have piping tips but no bag, then simply snip off a corner of the bag. Then insert your desired tip into that corner making sure your piping tip does not slip out of the hole. *The width of the hole should be smaller than the width of your piping tip.
See more mini sized desserts!
Storage
Homemade churros will keep 2-3 days in an airtight container or plastic storage bag. Just remember to keep air out and they will stay fresh! I do not recommend keeping them in the refrigerator! This will make them soggy.
How This Recipe Is Unique
- I used vanilla extract in the dough
- I used an egg to make them more moist inside ('cakier' rather than crunchier)
- I baked them so they have less fat and calories
- I added a lil' sugar to my dough since churro dough is typically NOT sweet
- I paired them with a delicious dark chocolate sauce
- I made them bite sized so they are LESS MESSY!
- I used milk in addition to water for a richer taste
Coating Tip* Replace the cinnamon in your cinnamon/sugar coating with apple pie spice, pumpkin pie spice, citrus zest, cocoa powder, espresso powder, or even chili powder for a delicious change!
How To Make Your Chocolate Dipping Sauce
This chocolate sauce for dipping is completely optional! With that said, it is completely delicious with these churro bites! I think we can all agree that dipping just makes everything more fun ESPECIALLY when the thing your dipping is a bite sized mini churro!
How to heat your chocolate sauce:
Add chocolate chips and milk to a small heat proof bowl or mug. You can use milk chocolate, dark chocolate OR semi-sweet chocolate.
Then place the bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds. Take out and stir WELL. If needed, place in microwave in 10 second intervals stirring in between until your sauce is smooth.
Important* Do NOT overheat or get any other liquids in your chocolate or your chocolate will scorch or seize. If you do, watch this video on how to save your chocolate!
FAQ's
Yes! Omit the eggs and replace the milk with nut milk or water and TADA! Vegan churros!
Yes! Just bring a few inches of oil to 350-375ºF and pipe dough into the oil. OR you can pipe them first and drop logs into the oil until golden brown.
Of course! Use a larger piping tip to pipe the dough "fatter" or make them longer. Heck, you could even make them heart shaped if you're feeling it!
Here are some other mini sweet snacks you may like:
Quick Chocolate Coated Banana Skewers
10 Minute Lemon Coconut Cheesecake Truffles
Healthy Peanut Butter Oat Energy Bites
Mini Cheesecake Bites with Cookie Crust
Healthy Chocolate Strawberry Yogurt Truffles
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📖 Recipe
BAKED Mini Churro Bites w/ Quick Chocolate Sauce
Equipment
- Piping Bag *Optional
Ingredients
Churro Dough
- ¾ Cup Flour
- ¼ Tsp. Salt ((if using unsalted butter))
- 1 Tbsp. Sugar
- ½ Cup Water
- 5 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter
- ¼ Cup Milk
- 1¼ Tsp. Vanilla Extract
- 1 Large Egg
Cinnamon Sugar Coating
- ⅓ Cup Sugar
- 1 Tsp. Cinnamon
Chocolate Sauce
- ⅓ Cup Chocolate Chips ((dark or semi-sweet))
- 2 Tbsp. Whole Milk
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Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400°F.
- Add your flour, salt and sugar in a separate bowl and set aside.
- Place your water, milk, butter and vanilla in small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Grab a wooden spoon in the meantime.
- Once boiling, add your flour mixture and stir with the spoon until mixture comes together in a ball. This should only take 10 seconds or so. Do not over mix!
- Turn OFF heat and add your egg. Mix quickly until egg is combined with the dough. Set aside.
- Once dough has slightly cooled, add it to a piping bag with a star tip or a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off.
- Pipe churros onto a greased baking sheet in little 'logs" about 2" long. (See photos above.) They will not expand so you do not need to leave much room in between them.
- *To get clean edges, press the tip of the bag down onto your sheet pan and drag the bag along the pan to "cut" your logs.
- Bake on an upper rack in your oven for about 15 minutes or until inside is JUST cooked through. NOTE* Your churros will brown on the bottom.
- While baking, combine your cinnamon and sugar in a large bowl.Toss in your churros right when they come out of the oven! The sugar will not stick if you wait too long. Serve with chocolate sauce on the side.
Dark Chocolate Sauce
- Add milk and chocolate chips to a heat-proof bowl or mug and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir until chocolate is fully melted and smooth. If it needs more time, pop in the microwave for another 10 seconds. Serve warm.
Ashley Russell
Easy, fast and delicious! The whole batch was gone in less than two hours! My son used to eat Earth's Best french toast sticks, until they discontinued. He's missed them for years. These are just like them he said, and he is so, SO happy. THANK YOU!
Aleka Shunk
Yay! I am so glad everyone liked them!!