It’s the weekend and we all deserve a treat! I think these Orange Scented Churros with Chocolate Dipping Sauce will fit the bill.
Churros are basically a fried ‘choux’ dough. I added a bit of orange zest to my dough, which I quite enjoy. Once fried toss these babies up in some cinnamon sugar while they are hot and you are good to go. These are good just as is, but if you want to be even more decadent make a simple chocolate dip to go alongside and dunk away.
CHURRO DOUGH
– 1 cup all-purpose flour
– 1/2 cup water
– 1/2 cup milk
– 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut up into smaller pieces
– 1 tablespoon sugar
– 1/2 tsp salt
– zest of one orange
– 1 tsp vanilla
– 4 eggs (at room temperature)
– vegetable oil for frying
– 1/4 cup sugar mixed with 1/2 tsp cinnamon for coating finished churros in
In a medium saucepan over medium heat put in your water, milk, butter, sugar, salt, orange zest, and vanilla. Bring mixture to a full boil while stirring constantly. Add your flour in and stir rapidly. It will look like the mixture isn’t coming together at first but keep stirring until the mixture becomes smooth and comes away from the sides of the pan. At this point turn the heat off and transfer the mixture to a bowl or a stand mixer if you have one with the paddle attachment hooked in. Let the mixture cool for 5 minutes. You can use a wooden spoon and a mixing bowl at this point to add the eggs but I find a stand mixer or even a beater easier on low speed. Mix in one egg at a time, do not add the next egg until completely mixed. Once all the eggs are mixed in well and the mixture is smooth, you can transfer this to a piping bag with a medium to large-sized attachment depending on how thick you like your churros.
Heat up some vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed pan for frying over medium heat. You will know when the oil is done if you put the back of a wooden spoon in and it bubbles. Pipe in the churro dough using scissors to cut the dough to the desired length.
Fry them up flipping over once to brown nicely to a deep golden brown on both sides (takes about 2-3 minutes). Once they are done remove them to a paper towel to drain a bit of the oil and then toss in cinnamon-sugar mixture.
For the Chocolate Sauce:
– 1/2 cup half and half cream
– 1 tbsp butter (unsalted)
– 1 tbsp sugar
– 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
In a small saucepan heat up the cream, sugar, and butter stirring constantly until it comes to a boil. Turn off heat and whisk in chocolate chips until smooth.
These are best served up right away with the chocolate dip served hot.
If you like this recipe you should try my Mini Chocolate ‘Molten Lava’ Cakes
