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These light and crispy Spanish-inspired vegan churros are rolled in cinnamon sugar and served with a delicious dark chocolate dipping sauce! Plus, it’s gluten-free and SO addicting!
📘 What are Churros
A churro is a popular Spanish and Portuguese sweet snack that consists of a pastry dough piped into a cylinder shape and fried until golden brown and crispy. It is usually coated in sugar or cinnamon sugar and may be served with a chocolate dipping sauce.
🥣 How to Make Vegan Churros
You are just 8 ingredients and 20 minutes away from delicious vegan churros! Here are the ingredients you will need:
- Brown and white rice flour – To keep these churros gluten-free, we will be using a combination of brown rice flour and white rice flour. After testing, I noticed that churros made using only white rice flour tend to be very custardy. While using only brown rice flour, the churros are crispier but do not have much dough on the inside. The combination of both gives the perfect texture!
- Cornstarch – For texture and to prevent the churros from crumbling.
- Baking powder – Just a pinch for a slightly lighter texture.
- Unsweetened almond milk – Or your favorite plant-based milk.
- Coconut sugar – To slightly sweeten the dough and help the churros brown. You can use regular sugar as well.
- Oil – Or vegan butter if you want a more buttery flavor. I tried both, and the version using butter had a slightly superior taste.
- Flavorings – Optional. For extra flavor, you can add vanilla extract or orange blossom water to the dough.
Preparing the dough is incredibly easy: add all of the dry ingredients to a bowl and whisk to combine.
Next, heat the almond milk, coconut sugar, oil, and vanilla extract in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. As soon as it comes to a boil, remove from the heat and pour it into the dry ingredients. Mix using a wooden spoon until it forms a very thick dough.
Transfer the dough to a churro maker and pipe 4-inch long churros on parchment paper.
Check out the Tips below to learn more about why I recommend piping on parchment paper instead of piping directly into the oil.
Finally, deep-fry the churros in hot oil until golden brown and roll them in sugar!
🍫 Chocolate Dipping Sauce
Now, if you want to do things properly, serving these churros with a chocolate dipping sauce is mandatory. Hey, chocolate always makes things better, right?
To make the chocolate dipping sauce:
- Add 1 cup (about 150g) of finely chopped dark chocolate to a bowl.
- Heat 2/3 cup (160ml) of unsweetened almond milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat just before it comes to a boil, and pour it over the chopped dark chocolate.
- Let it sit for 1 minute and stir until all of the chocolate has melted and is fully combined with the milk.
- Let cool for a few minutes, and serve with the churros!
💬 FAQ
Yes! If you prefer to make churros using all-purpose flour, the instructions are exactly the same. Simply replace the brown rice flour, white rice flour, and cornstarch with 1 cup of all-purpose flour.
Churros are best served warm immediately after frying.
📔 Tips
- Pipe the churros on parchment paper: Instead of piping the churros directly into the oil, I highly recommend piping them on small rectangles of parchment paper. Once done, transfer the churros AND the parchment paper to the hot oil. It will prevent the churros from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Don’t worry. The parchment paper won’t burn or disintegrate.
- The oil should be hot enough. Otherwise, your churros will be pale and won’t puff as much. You can test the temperature of the oil by dipping a wooden spatula or chopstick. If you see bubbles and foam forming around the spatula, the oil is hot enough.
- For a twist on regular churros: Replace the oil in the dough with toasted sesame oil, and coat the churros in powdered peanuts combined with sugar. It yields super nutty churros with a subtle toasty flavor! A favorite here!
I hope you are going to love these vegan churros! They are super crispy on the outside and chewy and tender inside. Everyone loves them, kids included!
🧁 More Delicious Plant-Based Sweets
Let me know in the comments if you try this recipe!
Vegan Gluten-Free Churros
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup brown rice flour
- 1/2 cup white rice flour
- 5 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar
- 2 tbsp oil or melted vegan butter
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3-4 cups vegetable oil for frying
Sugar Coating
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the brown rice flour, white rice flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
- To a medium saucepan, add the almond milk, coconut sugar, oil, and vanilla extract. Heat over medium heat, whisking constantly until it comes to a boil. As soon as it boils, remove from the heat and pour over the flour mixture. Using a wooden spoon, mix until it forms a very thick and smooth paste.
- Transfer the dough to a churro maker fitted with the largest star-shaped disc. Cut 12 rectangles (of about 6×2-inch) of parchment paper. Pipe a churro on each piece of parchment paper.
- Next, heat the oil in a deep saucepan over medium heat. Once the oil is hot (at about 375°F), add 2-3 churros to the oil, with the parchment paper as well. Doing this will prevent the churros from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Fry for 2-3 minutes, or until churros are golden brown. You can carefully remove the parchment after 30 seconds, as the churros will float.
- Transfer the churros to a plate line with kitchen paper towel to remove the excess oil. Repeat with the remaining churros.
- To coat the churros, whisk together the sugar with the cinnamon in a large deep plate. Roll the churros into the cinnamon sugar and serve immediately!
About the Author
Thomas Pagot is the founder, photographer, and recipe developer behind Full of Plants. He created the blog in 2016 as a personal cookbook for vegan recipes. Through years of recipe development, Thomas has successfully grown Full of Plants into a trusted resource for plant-based recipes.
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