
The quickest Churro-history lesson
Churros are a Spanish breakfast pastry that possibly originated in China and were brought to Spain by Portuguese merchants. Some say that they are native to Spain, created by Spanish shepherds, inspired by the horn of a type of sheep called Navajo-Churro. No matter the origin, Churros are now popular in most European countries, and spread like wildfire across Latin America.
It it essentially made of choux pastry, deep fried and later smothered in chocolate before being devoured. The Mexican variation, includes rolling in cinnamon sugar. Eaten while still hot, it is gorgeously crispy on the outside, and sinfully molten on the inside. The pastry itself is flavoured with vanilla and that carries through in every bite. Churros to me are a piece of deep-fried heaven!
The first time I ever had a Churro was in Mexico, during my very brief cameo as a pastry chef in the kitchens of Rosewood Mayakoba. This one below, came straight out of a 5-star fryer and went straight into my mouth. Can you see the molten center, and the sugar coated, crisp exterior?
Read about my 5-star experience in a real kitchen here. It was every baker’s dream come true!
I’ve been wanting to make these myself ever since that time, and if I was going to make it, I had to make it BIG!
Churro batter, as I already mentioned, is basically choux pastry that’s used to make Chocolate Éclairs, profiteroles, croquembouches and the like. So I figured, why not do just that – an éclair fashioned from churro batter, and filled with a chocolate custard, instead of being dipped and eaten like Churros normally are. Bingo!
The choux pastry, despite how complicated and French it sounds, is not that difficult to make. C’est pas difficile! It starts with melting butter, water and sugar in a saucepan. When it comes to a simmer, you add in the flour and whisk (yes, please use a whisk to prevent lumps). After about a minute, you will have something like this.

All that’s left is to just pipe it onto a baking tray using a Wilton 1M star nozzle tip. I twist the pastry bag as I get to the end and pull. Better than cutting off each churro as you pipe, and this way, your churro gets a nice ‘tail’ 🙂
Quick Tip: Sprinkle a little water on the baking tray to help the churros ‘rise’ in the oven.

Bake and let it cool for 10 minutes inside the oven with the oven door left slightly ajar. I prop my oven door open using a large wooden spoon. Make holes on one side of the pastry shell to help the steam escape. This will ensure that your shells don’t collapse as they cool.
Fill a small pastry bag with the chocolate custard (prepared in advance and chilled until use), and pipe the custard into the shells using the hole you just made. Tap the shell as you fill to make sure the custard gets to the bottom. Brush with butter and roll into cinnamon sugar. Devour.
Simple, right?
Note:
Your Baked Churro Éclairs are best served as soon as they are filled. That way, you get that churro crunch and an éclair’s gooey center – the best of both worlds. If you must make it in advance, refrigerate after filling for up to 1-2 hours and you will get an éclair like soft crust instead.
When you make these (which I really think you SHOULD!), be sure to SHARE YOUR PHOTOS with me through Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. I’d love to see what you cook from here!
Hasita says
These look so compact and soooo very yumm!
Can you also have them without the chocolate filling,, I mean, how do they taste?
Tina Dawson says
The fried version is much better to eat without chocolate, but this, it’ll just taste very doughy and not much else.. I wouldn’t recommend skipping the chocolate.
Monica | Nourish & Fete says
These look amazing – beautiful pictures, and the step-by-step photos/instructions really stand out. Thanks for sharing!
Tina Dawson says
Thanks so much Monica! I’m glad you liked it… 🙂
Bintu - Recipes From A Pantry says
These look so good. Eclairs can be tricky, you have made them look so simple, love the filling
Tina Dawson says
Thanks Bintu!
Stephanie@ApplesforCJ says
These look amazing. I haven’t had an eclair in years. Now you have me craving one!
Tina Dawson says
You really need to try this then!
Catherine says
These filled churros look absolutely fantastic! I’d love to make these and I love that they are baked not fried!
Tina Dawson says
Thanks Catherine! The BAKED was my fav part too!
Oracle Equipments says
Thank you for this post man. its very informative.
Beth @ Binky's Culinary Carnival says
These look crazy! I haven’t had a Churro since I was in California! Yum!
Tina Dawson says
Well, then you really shd give this a try!
Britni Vigil says
I’m pretty sure I just died and went to heaven. Churros + chocolate custard, amazing! I’m for sure trying these for Cinco de Mayo!
Tina Dawson says
Thanks Britni, I’m sure you’ll love these!
Kristen says
gosh, these look so good! I am not a great baker- but I would love to make these!
Tina Dawson says
You don’t have to be a great baker to make these! Neither am I, and if I can, so can you!
Sue/the view from great island says
There are no words for how fantastic this is…wish I could grab an armload through my screen 🙂
Tina Dawson says
Ha ha Thanks Sue!