Mini Baked Churros with Chocolate Espresso Ganache

The most delicious mini churros that are so simple to make and BAKED, not fried! Served with a chocolate espresso dipping sauce, these churros are just about perfect!

With Cinco de Mayo just a few days away, I knew I had to celebrate with churros. I don't like frying things and making our whole house smell like oil for days so I decided to bake these churros instead and they are even better!

With ingredients almost everyone has in their fridge and pantry at all times, these churros are so easy to whip up. I used a large piping bag found here and a large star piping tip found here. You can also find these supplies at any craft store like Hobby Lobby or Michaels. You can also use a large ziplock bag and cut the tip off to make churros with no ridges.

Making churro dough is super fun and different from most dough. You make it all in a saucepan until it forms a ball and then you fill your piping bag with the dough. You can make these as long or short as you want, but I choose to make them 3-4 inches and I used scissors to cut the dough each time since it's really thick.

After you pipe the mini churros out on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, bake them until golden brown and let them cool on a drying rack.

Then you get to brush these babies with melted butter and dip them in cinnamon sugar... YUM!

To make the chocolate ganache, add chopped semi-sweet or dark chocolate to a bowl with instant coffee granules and vanilla extract. In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a simmer and then pour over the chocolate. Let sit 5 minutes and then whisk until smooth and fully melted. I added 1 tablespoon of instant coffee granules to mine but you can definitely add less if you don't want that strong of coffee flavor. You can even omit it completely if you don't like coffee, but I think it brings out the chocolate flavor and is the perfect addition to this dessert.

Happy Cinco de Mayo and happy baking!

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Mini Baked Churros with Chocolate Espresso Ganache

Yield: 40, 3-4 inch churros

Author: Elisabeth & Butter

prep time: cook time: total time:

ingredients:

For the Churros

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 eggs large eggs at room temperature

For the Cinnamon Sugar Topping

• 2 tablespoons salted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

For the Chocolate Espresso Ganache

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cup chopped semi-sweet or dark chocolate
• 1/2-1 tablespoon instant coffee granules (depending on how strong of coffee flavor you like)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

instructions:

How to cook Mini Baked Churros with Chocolate Espresso Ganache

For the Churros

1. Preheat oven to 375°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Fill a large piping bag with a star tip (Ateco decorator tip #826 or any star tip you prefer) or you can use a large ziplock bag and cut the tip off to make churros with no ridges.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter, water, brown sugar, sugar and salt until combined and then bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. The butter should be completely melted.
3. Remove from heat and immediately add the flour and vanilla and stir until combined until it forms a ball. Make a well in the center of the dough and add one egg at a time, stirring quickly until combined before adding the next egg. You don’t want the eggs to cook or curdle so you have to work quickly and the room temperature eggs will help. To bring eggs to room temperature quickly, you can put them in a bowl of warm water for about 5 minutes before cracking them. Dough will be thick.
4. Fill your piping bag with the dough and pipe 3-4 inch long strips, using scissors to cut the dough after each one. Leave 2 inches between each strip. Bake for 25-27 minutes or until golden brown. Place on cooling rack to cool completely.

For the Cinnamon Sugar Topping

1. Combine the granulated sugar and ground cinnamon in a bowl. In another small bowl, melt the 2 tablespoons of butter.
2. Using a pastry brush, brush each churro with the melted butter on top and bottom and then dip in the cinnamon sugar mixture until fully covered. If you don’t have a pastry brush, you can dip the churros in the melted butter and then into the cinnamon sugar.

For the Chocolate Espresso Ganache

1. Place the chopped chocolate, instant espresso granules, and vanilla extract in a bowl and set aside. In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a simmer and then pour over the chocolate. Let this sit for 5 minutes and then whisk until smooth and shiny. Serve with warm or room temperature churros!

NOTES:

These churros are best served warm and fresh the same day. To reheat the churros, you can either pop them in the microwave for a few seconds or broil them in the oven until they’re crispy again.

Created using The Recipes Generator