Churros
These deep-fried sticks of dough are sprinkled with sugar and often dipped in warm chocolate sauce. The churro originated from Spanish shepherds and who named them after the churra sheep, since the dough resembled their horns. 
Ingredients: 
  • Vegetable oil for frying    
  • 1 cup water (8 oz)
  • 1/4 cup butter (2 oz)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 Tbs light brown sugar
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour (5 oz)
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
 
  1. Heat oil in a pan to 360 degrees F.
  2. Bring water, butter, brown sugar to a quick boil. Remove from heat. 
  3. Mix salt into flour and stir in to liquid. Add vanilla. Mix thoroughly over low heat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the pan (about 1 minute). Set aside for a few minutes to cool. Transfer to mixing bowl.
  4. Beat eggs until smooth and then add slowly to mixing bowl with mixer set on slow. Add a small amount of eggs at a time, thoroughly mixing in before adding more. Mix until creamy.
  5. Spoon mixture into piping bag with large star tip. Squeeze strips of dough into hot oil. Fry 3 or 4 strips at a time until golden brown, turning once, about 2 minutes on each side. Drain on paper towels. 
  6. Mix Sugar and the optional cinnamon); roll churros in sugar or dump the sugar on the pile of churros. 

Chocolate Dunking Sauce:
  • 1 ounce dark chocolate, chopped
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1-2 tablespoons sugar
Place the chocolate and half of the milk in a pan and heat on low. Dissolve the cornstarch in the remaining milk and whisk into the melted chocolate. Stir in the sugar. Cook on low heat, whisking constantly, until the chocolate is thickened, about 5 minutes. Add extra cornstarch if it does not start to thicken after 5 minutes. Remove and whisk smooth.
Pour and serve in cups for dipping churros.