Don’t you just want to dive into this tray of crispy gluten free churros? Even if you’ve never had a churro, these golden brown, sugar covered doughnuts are hard to resist. Good thing we can now make them gluten free!
If you’re unfamiliar with churros, they are undeniably delicious, but their origin story is a matter of some dispute, many believing that they hail from Spain and Portugal and were brought to the Americas with colonization. Others believe they really were first ideated in China as a fried flour stick that later morphed into the cinnamony-sometimes-chocolate-dipped sweet treat we all know and love, but that may be just be lore.
I suppose in the end, it really doesn’t matter from whence they came. The churro is here to stay because it’s amazing.
Who could deny the delight of a light, airy fried doughnut piped into a long line or curvy or spiraled shape rolled in sugar or dipped in melted chocolate? Churros are made from choux pastry – a light pastry dough also used to make fun things like gluten free beignets, eclairs, and even French crullers. (For more gluten free doughnut recipes, just search use the search bar at the top of my gfJules site … I have lots!)
They’re served at summer carnivals and fairs, but also for breakfast with hot chocolate or coffee. I like to bring a little summer into our lives during the cold, dreary winters by making unexpected recipes like gluten free churros. Call me crazy, but it sure makes winter more fun!
It’s also the perfect way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, particularly during a depressing quarantine, don’t you think?
The base churro recipe is flour, lots of water and salt, with variations adding butter, eggs and even milk. I’ve chosen a gluten free and dairy free combination of those which has enough yummy flavor that you don’t have to smother the churros in cinnamon and sugar … but you sure can!
Can you see how amazingly airy this gluten free choux pastry is? That’s because it’s made with my gfJules All Purpose Gluten Free Flour. The batter and finished churros are remarkably light and crispy, with soft pockets of air scattered throughout. There’s no funny aftertaste from bean flours (none here!) and no grit from rice flour – just the perfect taste and texture you’d expect from the perfect gluten free churro.
They’re way too easy to eat, I’ll just warn you right now. My husband even said they were as good if not better than any churros he’s had in a restaurant (with gluten), so that’s a pretty good sign.
The batter is squeezed through a star-shaped tip to lend its signature ridges, but beyond that, you can put your own spin on them. Here’s the star tip I used and it worked well, but you could use a smaller or larger one or just pipe them into the hot oil through the corner of a bag as you would with funnel cakes (yep – I have a recipe for gluten free funnel cakes, too).
The colder the dough, the straighter the piped churros, in case you want to make sure your gluten free churros are very straight or prefer very curvy.
Enjoy these treats on Valentine’s Day in heart shapes, or anytime you have a Spanish-themed dinner, or really just anytime a craving hits for a light, airy doughnut dredged in cinnamon and sugar (which for me, is way too often).
Gluten Free Churros Recipe
Gluten Free Churros are light, airy fried doughnuts piped into a long line or a curvy or spiraled shape rolled in sugar or dipped in melted chocolate. Sounds pretty dreamy, doesn't it? Lucky for you, this recipe makes it easy!
Ingredients
- 1 cup + 2 Tbs. milk of choice (dairy or non-dairy)
- 7 Tbs. butter or non-dairy alternative e.g. Earth Balance Buttery Sticks
- 1 cup gfJules Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 ½ Tbs sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- 2 eggs (or equivalent egg replacer like Ener-G brand
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- Mild, high heat oil, for frying (I use high heat sunflower oil
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ cup sugar
Instructions
Whisk the gfJules Flour in a large mixing bowl with baking powder, salt, cinnamon and 1 ½ tablespoons sugar.
Heat milk together with the butter (cut the butter into smaller pieces before adding to help them melt faster) in a large saucepan on the stove. Heat gently and as soon as the mixture boils, remove from heat.
Pour mixture into large mixing bowl with flour. Stir until combined, either with a wooden spoon or using an electric mixer.
Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then add eggs or substitute, one at a time with vanilla, mixing until incorporated. The dough should be thick and sticky with air pockets but not so thick that it cannot be piped through the bag. If it is too thick, add more milk, 2 tablespoons at a time. If it's too thin, whisk in more gfJules Flour, 2 tablespoons at a time. If the batter is more like pancake batter and very thin, it will cook up like funnel cakes (also yummy!) but won't hold its shape from being piped through the star-shaped tip.
At this point, the batter may be fried or covered to rest in the refrigerator for up to 24 hrs.
Fill a deep saucepan (at least 10 inches wide) with three inches of oil. Heat until it reaches 350°F on a candy thermometer. Cover a wire rack or tray with paper towels.
In a small bowl, mix the remaining sugar and cinnamon.
Fit a 1M star tip to a piping bag or a large plastic bag and cut the corner out to fit the tip.
Fill with the dough, then pipe directly into the pan, cutting off each dough strip with a knife.
Fry until light brown and crisp – approximately 1 minute per side -- then remove with a slotted spoon and drain on the paper towel covered rack. I always test with a small amount of batter first to be sure the oil is the right temperature and get the timing down right before using all the batter.
Pipe more churros into the oil and then transfer the cooked churros to a tray with the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Toss gently when slightly cooled, then remove to parchment to finish cooling.
Notes
Note: refrigerate the dough before piping if you want straight churros; frying right from the bowl makes the dough softer and more likely to curl into curved shapes.
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Hi there! I stumbled upon your site a few weeks ago looking for a good gf/df churro recipe. One of my students (and dear family friend) has many food allergies and told his doctors that the ONE food he wants to try is a churro. (Our school gives them out on special occasions and he can’t have them.) I am always up for a good challenge and find myself quite determined in the kitchen. I’ve tried a few meh recipes…. until this one. I made these tonight and couldn’t contain my excitement – I drove some freshly fried churros to him! 🙂 Having lived in Spain and eaten more than my fair share of churros con chocolate, I can confidently say that these are just as good as – if not better than – ‘regular’ churros. Thank you so much for this recipe and for your flour blend. You’ve made my family’s gluten free journey much easier and you’ve truly helped make a very special young boy’s day! 🙂
Oh Julie, that is such a wonderful story! How sweet of you to go on this journey to find a fantastic gluten free and dairy free churro for your student!!! To make some that are “just as good as — if not better than — ‘regular’ churros,” is quite the high praise. I’m sure your student was over the moon! Thank you so much for sharing this story with me. (You made my day, too!!)
~jules
I love your page gluten-free
Thanks so much, Maria!!
~jules
How would I do these gluten free churros in an air fryer. Thanks. Joan
Hi Joan, I’m not sure, as I haven’t had time to try this recipe in an air fryer yet! I can tell you that my donut holes recipe and my beignet recipes work in an air fryer, but it is a bit different without the initial very hot oil touching the outside of the dough, so these would be the same in that way (less crispy on the outside and somewhat less puffy).
~jules