Churro Tots

Happy Wednesday, beautiful people.

Factoid for you: Getting my car serviced stresses me.

To deal, I totally made Churro Tots. Throw in stress eating and calls to dad, and it some how made everything okay. I encourage it!

Last week I went to a cookbook release party at Border Grill and they had churros…in tot form! I was blown away by their cuteness–had to replicate it stat for you all.

I basically made a tweaked and adjusted version of this pate a choux recipe. And then fried small balls of the dough. It was a breeze. Messy, but a breeze.

I’m not a really clean cook. I’m not super organized.  But I’m sure you knew this. Being organized with this recipe is kind of a must.

I know I know, you’re probably thinking: “Organized, schmorganized.” But it’ll make your life a whole lot easier. Let’s talk about it. Let’s get through it together.

Get your dry ingredients together in small prep bowls: AP flour, cinnamon, sugar and salt.

Wet ingredients: eggs, butter and water. 

Put oil in your cast iron or dutch oven. 

Grab a baking sheet, line it with some paper towels. Get a plate ready with the sugar and cinnamon (not pictured bc I’m an idiot).  Make sure you have some sort of strainer, too.

And then go to town. It’s easy. Cook up the batter.  Add the eggs. Fry ‘em up. Drain ‘em. Roll ‘em in sugar and cinnamon.

Crunchy and crispy on the outside; light and fluffy on the inside. Totally dreamy. 

Whip up some whipped cream and melt some chocolate…then do some dipping action. It’s necessary. 

Churro Tots

Recipe adapted from Dorie Greenspan

Print this recipe!

For Frying:
Vegetable Oil

Dough:
1 cup water
1 stick (4 ounces) butter
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
3 eggs & 2 egg whites

For dusting:
3 tablespoons of cinnamon and sugar, mixed

1. In a medium saucepan, bring the water, butter, cinnamon and salt to a roiling boil. Stir in the flour all at once. Reduce the heat to low and stir, using a wooden spoon, vigorously until the mixture forms a ball, about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat.

2. Let the batter sit for 5 minutes to cool.

3. When it’s warm (not hot) to the touch, add one egg at a time. Keep stirring until the mixture comes together and is smooth. It might seem squishy for a while, keep going! Note: You can also do this in an electric stand-up mixer with a paddle attachment–it’ll go faster. Also, Mine was a bit too dry, so I added 2 egg whites and then it was perfect. This will unfortunately depend on a lot of things like climate, altitude, etc.

4. In a cast iron skillet, add 1 1/2 inches of oil and place over medium-high heat. When the oil reaches 360 degrees F, it’s ready.

5. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a large star-tip.  Have sterilized scissors on hand.  Hold the bag over the hot oil, squeeze a strip of dough about 1 inches long, snip it with the scissors and let it drop into the oil.  Fry 10 to 12 balls at a time, turning once, until golden brown, about 2 minutes on a side.  Drain on paper towels.  Roll the churro tots in the sugar/cinnamon and serve immediately.  These are really best minutes after they’ve been fried. Serve with whipped cream and/or melted chocolate.

Tagged as: Chocolate, Churros, Cinnamon and Sugar, Mexican