Ok ok… I’m still not exactly back on the straight and narrow of gymming and eating healthy, buuuuut it was Taco Night at Life Group on Sunday night, annnnnnd I was volunteered (by myself) for dessert. These waffle churros make the perfect ending to any latin-style menu, so definitely give them a try next time you plan to break out the salsa, guac, and tortillas. Side note: making them as waffles makes life sooooo much easier, and healthier! No deep frying here! Boom! Healthy…er. 😀
Needless to say, these are definitely NOT hulk-approved. Granted, he thoroughly enjoyed them, but he was definitely opposed to having any leftovers in the house (lucky us, they were gone in SECONDS) or anyone eating more that one. But come on… tacos without churros? Seriously no bueno. I was good though, and only ate 1…ish (the first mini one was just a test to make sure they were fit for consumption! It hadn’t even been dredged in cinnamon sugar or doused in chocolate sauce yet!)
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ cup plus 2½ teaspoons cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 3 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 8 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Cooking spray
- In a medium-size, heavy bottom pot (I used a 3qt cast iron pot), heat the buttermilk, butter, 2½ teaspoons of sugar, salt and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon over medium heat until the butter has melted completely, the sugar has dissolved, and the mixture is simmering.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and, using a wooden spoon, gradually but quickly stir in the flour. At this point, the dough will come together fairly quickly into an unusual, play-doh looking mass. Trust me, this is ok! Stir vigorously until all the ingredients come together, and then transfer the dough mass into a large bowl. Allow the dough to cool for 5-10 minutes.
- While the dough is cooling a bit, preheat your waffle iron. Using your wooden spoon (or electric mixer if you're totally avoiding workouts), beat in the vanilla and eggs, one at a time, ensuring each one is thoroughly incorporated before adding the next. At first, you'll think you did something wrong and your dough is hopeless... have faith! By egg number 8, it'll start looking like waffle-able batter, promise! The batter will be thiccckkkk though!
- In a small saucepan (or in a microwave-safe bowl), melt the remaining butter until just liquid. Now, set up your sugaring station. Grab 2 large plates. Leave one clean, and on the other, mix together the rest of the cinnamon and sugar. Keep your melted butter nearby.
- Now you're ready to waffle! Give your waffle iron a spritz with cooking spray and drop about ¼ cup of batter into each section of your waffle iron. (Depending on the size of your waffle iron, you may be able to use more or less. Ours is pretty big, but we found the smaller size churros worked better... they're pretty rich, even without the chocolate sauce!)
- When each batch of churros has cooked, transfer them from the waffle iron to the clean plate. Use a pastry brush to brush both sides with butter, and then dredge them in the cinnamon sugar. Stack them up on a serving platter (preferably one that's oven safe so you can keep them warm while the others cook-- 200 degrees F is perfect).
- When the churros are done, whip up the chocolate sauce and you're ready to go! I used this chocolate sauce recipe that I also love with banana bread... or anything really. The cinnamon in the chocolate perfectly complements the cinnamon in the churros, so it's just divine.