If you've ever wanted to make warm churros at home but wished for a healthier baked version, I've got you. I put together this easy homemade baked churros recipe, and it takes about 40 minutes from start to finish. You get that crisp outside, soft middle, and the classic cinnamon sugar coating without frying.
🇪🇸 Spanish Dessert | 🥚 High-Protein | 🌿 Healthier | ⏱ 40 Mins Total
I love how fun this recipe is, especially if you want to pipe cute shapes. The dough cooks quickly on the stove using simple choux pastry. These baked churros are perfect if you want to make mini bear churros, stars, or even little bunnies. It's a great weekend activity with kids and such a cute treat to serve.
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What really makes these baked churros feel lighter is that they skip the oil completely. They puff up in the oven and still get a nice crisp outside, while staying soft inside. You still get that classic airy center, just without the heaviness of frying.
One thing I always do before starting is let the eggs sit until they reach room temperature. It helps them mix into the warm dough smoothly and gives you that shiny, easy-to-pipe batter. This makes a big difference whether you're piping the usual long strips or shaping cute mini bears, bunnies or stars for the kids.
💗 Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Healthier Treat: This is a healthier baked churros option with no messy deep-frying oil needed.
- Fun Shapes: You can easily pipe mini bear-shaped churros, stars, or bunnies, making it great for fun churros for kids.
- Moist Texture: The choux paste bakes up light, fluffy, and perfectly soft inside.
- Quick Dessert: The small shapes bake fast, giving you fresh churros in just 40 minutes.
🥧 Ingredients
*See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
♻️ Substitutes & Variation
- Different Shapes: If the animal shapes are too tricky, you can simply pipe the dough into short 1-inch (2.5 cm) baked churro bites.
- Sugar-Free Option: You can replace the brown sugar in the dough with an equal amount of granulated erythritol or monk fruit sweetener.
- Dipping Sauce: No time for ganache? You can serve these with a healthy caramel sauce, dulce de leche or a tangy 4-ingredient berry sauce.
🍦 Serving Suggestions
These homemade baked churros are best served fresh and warm! They pair perfectly with:
- A simple vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt.
- Warm churros rolled in cinnamon sugar are perfect for dipping in rich chocolate ganache recipe.
- Try a lighter touch with yogurt cream cheese frosting.
- Add a fruity twist by topping with crushed strawberries and cream.
❓Homemade Baked Churros Recipe FAQs
Baked churros vs fried churros offer a similar taste and cinnamon-sugar crunch, but the baked version is much lighter. Frying creates a slightly crisper, fattier shell, but baking gives you a soft, airy interior, making this healthier baked churros option a great alternative for fun churros for kids.
Yes, you can make baked churros without piping bag by carefully spooning the dough into a large Ziploc bag and snipping off one corner to create an opening. However, you won't get the clean ridges needed for the cute shapes!
While the eggs are necessary for the classic choux paste structure, you can search for a separate baked churros recipe without eggs that typically uses baking powder and a different binding agent.
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📖 Recipe
Homemade Baked Churros Recipe
Equipment
- Piping Bag and small to medium star tip
Ingredients
For the churro dough
For the cinnamon-sugar topping
- ¼ cup icing sugar 50 g
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 3 g
To serve
- chocolate ganache for dipping optional but so good!
Instructions
- Make the choux dough: Preheat your oven and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a saucepan, I combine water, butter, sugar, vanilla, and a pinch of salt, warming it just until the butter melts and the mix starts to boil gently.1 cup water, ½ cup butter, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 tablespoon brown sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Take it off the heat and stir in the flour all at once. Keep stirring quickly until the dough comes together into a smooth ball. I like to put it back on the heat for a minute while stirring-it helps remove extra moisture and gives the dough the perfect texture for piping.1 cup plain flour / all-purpose flour
- Add the eggs: Let the dough cool a little so it doesn't scramble the eggs. Then, add them one by one, mixing well after each. The dough might look a bit messy at first, but keep going-it will turn thick, glossy, and ready for piping.3 eggs
- Pipe your shapes and bake: Scoop the dough into a piping bag with a star tip. You can pipe classic churros-long and thick-or get creative with mini shapes like bears, bunnies, or stars. For bears, I pipe a small circle for the head and two tiny semi-circles for the ears. And for the bunnies a circle and two long ears.
- Bake until the churros are golden-brown and firm. After baking, turn the oven off and leave the churros inside for 10 minutes. This extra drying step sets their shape and ensures maximum crispiness.
- Add the cinnamon-icing sugar topping: While the churros are baking, mix icing sugar with cinnamon in a shallow bowl. As soon as they come out of the oven, roll them in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.¼ cup icing sugar, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Decorate with chocolate ganache: Once coated, you can add eyes and noses using chocolate ganache for dipping-this is a super fun activity for kids! It makes the mini bears, bunnies, and stars even more playful and irresistible. Serve warm and watch everyone enjoy them!chocolate ganache for dipping
Notes
- Use room temperature eggs to mix evenly into the dough, keeping it smooth and preventing scrambling.
- Cook the dough on the stovetop until a light film forms on the pan bottom-this removes excess moisture and helps the churros crisp up.
- After baking, turn the oven off and leave the churros inside for 10 minutes. This extra drying step sets their shape and ensures maximum crispiness.
Cindy says
These were so fun to make with my son. And delicious too!
Reny says
Baked churros is so good, thanks for sharing this method, I can eat a bunch .
Carissa says
You’ll love how fast these baked churros come together. You still get that crisp cinnamon sugar finish without any frying.
nancy says
amazing churros! I made these with my kids and they loved them. So delicious and fun to make!
Jera says
I am all for this baked churro recipe! Such a brilliant way to enjoy that crisp outside and classic cinnamon-sugar coating without the mess and heaviness of frying. What a fun activity for families!
Claudia-Cristina Ciorteanu says
My family loved this!