Yield: About 18 6-inch churros
Dough
2 cups (475 ml) water
3 tablespoons (40 grams) unsalted butter, cold is fine
2 tablespoons (25 grams) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1 1/2 to 2 quarts (about 1 1/2 to 1 2/3 liters) vegetable oil for frying
Coating
2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon or canela
Chocolate
3/4 cup (175 ml) heavy or whipping cream
5 ounces (140 grams) chopped semi- or bittersweet chocolate or about 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Pinch salt
Make the dough:
Heat water, butter, sugar, vanilla and salt in a medium-size saucepan until simmering and butter has melted. Remove from heat and dump in flour all at once. Mix vigorously with a spoon until the mixture forms a smooth ball and no floury bits are visible.
Let cool 5 to 10 minutes, then add eggs, one at a time. You can beat them in with a large whisk and strong arm, or use a hand- or stand mixer. Be warned that the dough really likes to ride up the beaters of a handmixer, so keep it pushed down.
Transfer churros to a pastry bag or strong gallon ziploc bag with a corner snipped off, fitted with a large closed star tip — I recommends a #8 pastry tip.
If you’d like to make them the traditional way, you can skip right to the frying stage and pipe the churros in 6-inch or desired lengths right into the oil, snipping them off with scissors at your desired length. I found it a little easier to pipe them while still warm onto a large baking sheet that had been lined with parchment paper and sprayed lightly with a nonstick spray. If using this method, transfer the tray of shaped churros to the fridge for 15 minutes and up to a couple hours to help the shapes set before frying them.
Cook the churros:
Heat oven to 200 degrees to keep churros warm while you fry them in batches. Line a large plate with a couple layers of paper towels. Add oil to Dutch oven or cast iron skillet until it measures about 1 1/2 inches deep and heat over medium/medium-high heat to 375 degrees.
Gently drop a few churros at a time into the oil and fry until deep golden brown on all sides, which will take about 6 minutes. Turn them frequently so that they cook evenly. Adjust heat as needed so that the oil does not dip below 350 degrees. Once churros are cooked, remove from oil and drain on towels for a minute before transferring to a tray in the oven to keep warm. Return your oil to 375 degrees before adding more churros. Repeat with remaining dough.
Coat the churros:
Once all churros are fried, combine cinnamon and sugar on a plate. Roll warm churros, one by one, in sugar to coat, spooning more cinnamon-sugar on as you do for best coverage. Tap off excess. Do not let warm churros sit in cinnamon sugar for longer than needed to coat or the sugar will get clumpy.
Make the sauce:
Heat cream, chocolate and salt in a bowl in microwave in 30 second bursts, whisking between them, until chocolate has melted.
Dip warm churros in warm chocolate sauce, repeat as needed.
Do ahead:
Choux dough, the style of dough used here, can be made and kept in bowl for up to a day before using, but it will be easier to pipe when it’s still warm. Piped raw churros should be good in the fridge for a few hours. Churros can be kept warm in oven before coating with cinnamon sugar for probably up to an hour before they might get dry. They’re best on the first day.