Mini churros with warm Nutella

Last Friday, I worked on another video shoot for Kin Community.  This time, instead of shooting several short recipe videos, we created a 20 minute entertaining story and the theme was a fall- inspired taco party.  I think you are going to love the recipes from this project that you'll be seeing over the next few weeks.  It was fun to work on a seasonally inspired menu, but with a twist - tacos!

I am starting at the end - dessert.  I made mini homemade churros and dipped them in warm Nutella. They are surprisingly easy to make.  The dough literally takes five minutes, then a quick trip to the Fry Daddy (thanks, Shanti), and a toss in cinnamon and sugar.  You have a hot, crispy, sweet treat that everyone will go bananas for.  My kids were literally squealing with delight when they tried these, and my husband, who doesn't normally love desserts, could not stop eating them.  

Don't even think about calories and fat - this is a splurge, for sure! 

Serves 6-8

Canola oil
1/2 cup + 1 T. sugar
1 t. cinnamon
1 c. water
1 stick unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup flour
3 eggs
1 c. Nutella

In a large saucepan or deep fryer, pour canola oil to a depth of at least 2 inches.  Heat oil to 350 degrees.

Line a sheet pan with paper towels (for draining) and in a pie plate, combine the 1/2 c. sugar and cinnamon.

In a separate medium saucepan, combine water, butter, salt, and remaining T. of sugar and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, add the cup of flour, turn off heat and stir until a ball of dough has formed.  Then add eggs, one at a time, stirring until smooth and glossy after each addition.

Transfer the dough into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip.  Squeeze lengths of dough into the hot oil in 3-4 inch strips.  Don’t overcrowd your pot - it will take a few batches to do all the dough.  Cook about 5 minutes, turning often, until nicely browned.

Drain on paper towels and roll warm churros in cinnamon & sugar.

Warm Nutella in a glass bowl in the microwave in 10-15 second intervals, stirring in between each cycle, until warm and smooth.  Serve churros with warm Nutella for dipping.

Prep ahead ideas:
Although they are best fresh out of the fryer, I made a batch and then kept some warm in the oven at a a very low heat (140 degrees) for a couple hours and they were still as delicious.

You can also prepare the dough and pipe out the raw churros onto a sheet pan, cover with plastic wrap and store in fridge for 3-4 hours before frying, so all you have to do is pop them in the oil.  OR you can also freeze raw, piped churros for up to a week, defrost for 30 minutes and then fry.