Gluten ~ Free Churros

 

Fresh made churros and donuts are a weakness of mine. Growing up in Southern California, churros have become a nostalgic comfort food stemming from visits to Olivera Street as a youth. Biting into a hot, crispy, churro sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar is my idea of culinary heaven. Recently when I went to my friend Jena’s house for a Cinco de Mayo dinner I had the great fortune of being able to eat a few of these. The best part was they were gluten-free so the guilt factor wasn’t too high. Michelle Sallah is the wonder chef who prepared the treats and she swears by the new flour called Cup 4 Cup developed at French Laundry which is the perfect combination of ingredients to make deserts delicious without gluten.

 

The dough used for churros is classic choux pastry (or pate a choux) with various uses: cream puffs/profiteroles, eclairs, even a savory version (gougeres). for this version, i used a pre-mixed gluten free flour (in this case, cup4cup, but i imagine any would work).
recipe:
1 C milk or water
4T butter
1T sugar
1t salt
1 1/3 C gf flour
5-6 eggs

method:
combine milk or water, butter, sugar, salt in a saucepan. bring to a boil, then turn off heat. add flour, all at once, and stir in with a wooden spoon. turn heat back on to medium-low, and cook mixture, stirring, for 2 minutes. the mixture will form a ball and get hard to sitr, just keep bashing it around.

transfer to standing mixer with paddle attachment and stir on medium speed in order to cool the dough. when it is just warm, add eggs, one at a time, keeping an eye on the texture. batter should be smooth, shiny, and hold a ribbon when the paddle is lifted. add the 6th egg if dough seems too thick. spoon into a pastry bag with wide tip, preferably an open star tip.

(the above can be done by hand with a wooden spoon but it is a fair amount of work.)

cook:
heat 1-2″ of sunflower or other high heat oil in a deep pot or skillet to 350F (a candy thermometer works for this). pipe batter in, twisting bag to break off at the desired length of churro. cook until crispy and golden brown, turning them carefully with tongs. this can be difficult as the temperature of the oil can fluctuate as the batter is piped in – keep an eye on the flame and adjust accordingly. remove with a slottd spoon and allow paper towel to absorb excess oil

finish:
roll churros in cinnamon sugar (i like equal parts cinnamon and sugar, but any ration works – just depends on your taste!)

 

 

 

Middle Photo by Jennifer Yu of  Use Real Butter.