Oven Baked Cinnamon Sugar Churros

After seeing the amazing job of a fellow blogger who made churros IN THE OVEN, I started to do some research into how I could make these little doughy beauties myself.  I wish I could remember who the blogger was... We said hello on Twitter, then I couldn't find her again to see her recipe.  I looked at a few different recipes then put the best parts of each of them together to create mine, after a bit of a failed first attempt following a recipe.

There's lots of theories about the churros origin.  Some say Spain, some say South America.  Regardless, they are a delicious combination of pastry, sugar and cinnamon. And they smell great when the oven door is opened!

I have to confess.  This took two attempts.  The first time, I used three eggs, as the original recipe stated, but ended up with a mixture which was so sloppy it poured through my piping bag.  Nevertheless I continued on… Attempted to pipe it, baked it and ended up with an éclair type pastry, cooked on the outside, raw on the middle, which collapsed when removed from the oven.  Needless to say batch one went into the bin.

I did some more research and decided to reduce the egg and let the mix cool a little before I attempted to transfer it to the piping bag. My second batch made 12 large churros, plus a big heart shaped one for Mr WhatClaireBaked, as I’m that kinda nice girl!

Once I got the hang of how the batter should be, it was fairly easy, although I would say, baking, rather than frying them did give a bit of a crusty exterior with a chewy, doughy interior.  It was less like a donut than I’d hoped – probably due to the lack of hot frying. But they were still yummy and were demolished.

I'm entering this post to #recipeoftheweek over at A Mummy Too

CHURRRRRRROSSSS!

Next time, I may attempt to fry these… I’ll let you know how that goes!!!

Update – in a fit of Saturday night madness, I’ve made another batch, adjusted the recipe again and managed to come up with an much less stodgy version than previous.

Cinnamon Sugar Baked Churros

Ingredients

125g plain flour

110g salted butter

250ml water

2 heaped dessert spoons caster sugar

2 medium eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

To Coat -

2 dessert spoons caster sugar (transferred into a dish suitable for rolling)

½ teaspoon cinnamon (transferred into the same dish)

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180c. Line two baking sheets with greaseproof paper.
2. In a non stick saucepan melt together the butter and water, stirring to combine.  Bring to the boil. Stir in the vanilla essence. 

   

   Melt the butter and water together

3. Remove from the heat, then stir in the flour.  The mix will come together and start to resemble mashed potatoes.  Keep mixing until combined and it comes away from the sides of the pan.  Stir in the caster sugar. 
4. Break 1 egg into the mixture and stir to combine until the mix becomes thick and glossy. Add the second egg and mix until the batter goes back to mashed potato texture. Be cautious  - the mix must be thick enough to pipe.  If it’s too runny, it will fall out of the piping bag and won’t work.

   

   Adding the eggs one by one

5. Allow the mix to cool in the pan, off the heat, for several moments.

   

   Correct consistency for the mix

6. Prepare your piping bag with an open star nozzle, then pipe the churros onto the tray, to your desired size.

   

   Piped Churros

7. Transfer to the oven and bake for around 15-20 mins until a skewer comes out clean from the centre of the churros.  They should also be golden brown.
8. Whilst the churros are baking in the oven, prepare your cinnamon sugar mix in a large flat container (Tupperware works well!)
9. Remove the cooked churros from the oven and immediately one by one, roll in the cinnamon sugar mix, so it sticks to the churro.
10. Eat and Enjoy!
    
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