Warm Churros & Hot Chocolate

By BobD

Chef Andrew Zimmerman of Chicago's Del Toro grew up eating fluffy donuts in New Jersey, but now he favors churros—hot, crispy fried Spanish crullers. Zimmerman pipes the dough into a ribbed spiral, then coats the churros in crunchy sugar and cinnamon. They're perfect for dipping into hot chocolate.

Ingredients

• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• Kosher salt
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 large eggs
• 1 large egg white
• 4 1/2 cups whole milk
• 7 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 quart vegetable oil, for frying
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Details

Servings 8
Cooking time 100mins
Adapted from foodandwine.com

Preparation

Step 1

In a large saucepan, bring 1 3/4 cups of water to a boil with the butter and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Remove from the heat, add the flour and stir vigorously until incorporated. Return to moderate heat and cook, stirring, until the dough pulls away from the side, 3 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Using an electric mixer, beat the dough at low speed for 1 minute, just until slightly cooled. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat in the eggs and egg white, one at a time. Transfer the dough to a bowl, press a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface and refrigerate until cooled to room temperature, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, heat the milk with 1/2 cup of water until small bubbles appear around the edge. Add the chocolate, cocoa powder, 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons of the sugar and a pinch of salt and whisk over low heat until the chocolate is melted. Keep warm over very low heat.

In another large saucepan, heat the oil to 375°F. Set a rack on a large baking sheet and cover with paper towels. In a pie plate, combine the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar with the cinnamon. Scoop the dough into a large pastry bag fitted with a large star tip.

Working quickly, squeeze 6-inch lengths of the dough into the hot oil, cutting them off with a knife. Fry no more than 8 churros at a time; they expand a bit as they cook. Fry over moderately high heat, turning once or twice, until browned, about 8 minutes. Drain the churros on the rack for 2 minutes, then toss with the cinnamon sugar in the pie plate. Serve at once with hot chocolate.