Disneyland Churros

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These Disneyland churros are served in the Magic Kingdom. Authentically Mexican, they have a hint of buttery vanilla flavor. Coated in cinnamon sugar, they’re crunchy on the outside, tender on the inside. In Frontierland they’re served with melted chocolate. They’re irresistible!

📌 Pin Disneyland Churros

👩🏻‍🍳 What Are Churros?

A churro is a traditional fried-dough pastry that originated in Spain and are popular in Mexico. Strips of dough are piped directly into hot oil through an open-star metal tip producing fluted sides. They’re primarily served and enjoyed during the winter/Christmas season.

California cuisine is greatly influenced by Mexican culture. This recipe for Disneyland churros is no exception. Fried until golden and crisp on the outside, churros are light and airy on the inside. The freshly-made treats are tossed in cinnamon sugar.

Instead of getting a rise from baking powder or yeast, churros get a gentle rise from eggs. Like donuts, churros are best enjoyed immediately. Serve them for breakfast, snacks or dessert.

At my second home on the west coast of Mexico, there’s a famous churro cart outside a Catholic church in downtown Puerto Vallarta: Inglesia de la Santa Cruz on the corner of Lazaro Cardenas and Aguacate. This specific food stand is widely knows serving the BEST churros in Banderas Bay. They’re only open at night, 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. or until the dough runs out.

As evening approaches, customers arrive anticipating freshly-made pastries. Groups patiently gather around the vendor’s cart. It’s a one-man operation. They watch closely and expectantly as thin strips of dough are expertly piped into hot oil. After tossed in a fragrant cinnamon/sugar coating, these crunchy Mexican churros are served in little brown treat bags.

When you eat a churro at Disneyland, you’re experiencing this authentic Mexican recipe.

🛒 Ingredients

For Churro Dough

• Water: Provides the churro dough with moisture.
• Butter: Adds rich delicious moisture and a buttery flavor.
• Sea Salt: Balances the flavor of the other ingredients.
• Ground Cinnamon: Provides a traditional Mexican flavor.
• All-Purpose Flour: Provides structure and strength for the batter.
• Large Eggs: Helps bind the batter together.
• Mexican Vanilla Extract: Enhances the flavor of the other ingredients. I use Mexican vanilla extract for it’s rich buttery vanilla flavor and bakery aroma. But feel free to use whatever type of vanilla you have on hand.

Other Ingredients

• Canola Oil: This is the type of oil used for frying churros in Mexico. But feel free to use another type of neutral-flavored oil with a high smoke point like vegetable oil or corn oil.
• Granulated Sugar: For coating the freshly-fried churros.
• Ground Cinnamon: For flavoring the granulated sugar.
• Chocolate Syrup (optional): Used as a churro dipping sauce.

⏲ Recipe Prep

Follow these easy steps for making Disneyland churros at home.

1. Add 1 inch oil to a heavy-bottomed skillet or Dutch oven. If making churro bites, or short strips of pastry, use a smaller pan which requires less oil. Pull out a candy thermometer.
2. Line a baking tray with paper towels. Prep an 18-inch piping bag with a metal star tip.
3. Create the sugar coating: in a wide bowl, mix cinnamon and sugar together.

👉🏻 Expert Tip: When you need to make multiple batches of churros, make separate batches of dough. Don’t just double the recipe in the same pot. It’s much too hard to work with. You’d need construction-man muscles to stir the dough.

📖 Recipe Steps

Make the Dough

1. Add butter, water, cinnamon, and salt to a small saucepan. Mix to combine. Bring to a rolling boil over medium heat.
2. Reduce heat to low. Add flour to the pan all at once.
3. Stir until the dough is thick. It should pull away from the sides of the pan and form into a ball. Remove from heat. Let the dough rest for 5-7 minutes.
4. Add vanilla then eggs, one at a time, stirring after each addition. Keep stirring until eggs fully incorporate into the dough. It may seem like this won’t happen, but it will. Just keep on stirring. You’re done once the dough pulls away from the sides of the pan and can be easily formed into a ball. At this point, the pan itself should look almost clean!

Fry the Churros

1. On the stovetop, over medium to medium-high heat, bring the oil to 350°F. While cooking, the temperature will fluctuate. Help regulate the temp with a candy thermometer.
2. While the oil is heating, spoon batter into a decorating bag fitted with a metal tip.
3. Once the oil reaches 350°F, pipe strips of batter directly above the hot oil. With the dough suspended from the metal tip, use a pair of kitchen shears to cut dough straight off the tip in 3-inch segments. As the dough is cut it will fall directly into the oil. As they fry, use a spider strainer to gently toss and turn the treats. Fry pastries for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, or until golden and crisp.
4. Remove treats from oil with a spider strainer or slotted spoon. Drain on a paper-towel lined tray. With tongs, toss the Disneyland churros in cinnamon-sugar.

👉🏻 EXPERT TIP: For crispy pastries, don’t overcrowd the pot. If too much dough is added to the oil all at once, the temperature of the oil will drop.

Alternative Cooking Methods for Churros

Are you craving Disneyland churros but don’t want them fried in oil? There are easy ways to skip the oil and still enjoy these special treats!

• Baked Disneyland Churros: Preheat oven to 375˚F. Pipe dough in short strips onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Leave 1 1/2 inches between each. Bake 25-30 minutes or until cooked through and golden. Roll in cinnamon sugar.
• Air Fryer Disneyland Churros: Pipe strips of dough onto a lined baking sheet, leaving a 1/2- inch space between pieces. Freeze 30 minutes or until stiff enough to lift up. Lightly coat the air fryer tray with cooking spray. Air fry at 375°F until golden and cooked through.

🥣 Dipping Sauces for Churros

I serve my churros with chocolate sauce, just like they do in Frontierland. But for parties, it’s fun to create a toppings bar! Include colorful crushed cereal, candy sprinkles, edible glitter, and a few of these sauces for dipping.

• Hot Fudge
• Marshmallow Creme
• Dulce de Leche
• Butterscotch
• Salted Caramel
• Vanilla Whipped Cream

🏰 Favorite Disneyland Churros

Bring the magic of of Disney to your kitchen with this authentic Mexican churros recipe. Here are some fun ideas for recreating the toppings for your favorite Disneyland churros:

• Lemon Churros: On Disneyland’s Main Street, these pastries are coated in a mix of lemon sugar and crushed Fruity Pebbles cereal.
• Racer Churros: At the Cozy Cone Motel in Cars Land, they’re served in 3 different sparkly colors: red, yellow and blue! They’re tossed in colored sugar with edible glitter and stars.
• Sleeping Beauty’s Castle Churro Cart: Treats have hints of pineapple. They’re coated in white sparkling sugar with a marshmallow dipping sauce.
• Disneyland Cocoa Churro: Near Frontierland, churros con chocolate are coated in cinnamon sugar with chocolate powder. These “Coco” treats are served with chocolate dipping sauce.
• Strawberry Disneyland Churro: In Tomorrowland, these pastries are coated in fruity, neon-pink strawberry sugar.
• Ants on a Log Churros: In A Bug’s Land, Disneyland churros are drizzled with donut icing then rolled in Cocoa Krispies cereal.
• Carrot Cake Churros: In Disneyland’s New Orleans Square, treats are tossed in orange-tinted cinnamon sugar. They’re served with cream-cheese sauce with diced raisins and carrots.
• Senior Buzz Churros: At Disney California Adventure Park, these spicy bright-red sticks are coated with colored sugar and tiny flecks of what appears to be Red Hots candy.
• S’mores Churros: These campfire treats are served near Disneyland’s Splash Mountain. They’re coated in graham cracker crumbs and served with marshmallow-chocolate dipping sauce.
• Galactic Churros: At the Collector’s Warehouse in California Adventure, these Latin sweets are tossed in purple and black sugar with edible glitter flakes and stars.

🧑🏼‍🍳 Expert Tips

• The best piping tip for churros: An open star piping tip. The Wilton 1M metal tip produces pastries with thin crunchy exteriors, tender centers and classic ridges on the fluted sides. An Ateco #824 tip is another great choice. It produces churros with the same width as the Wilton 1M, but with shallower ridges on the sides. Don’t waste your time with larger tips. They’ll create thicker treats that won’t cook through.
• If you don’t have a metal piping tip: Make a homemade star-tipped piping bag. With kitchen shears, snip off the tip of your piping bag. Create ridges with 2 triangular cuts.
• Make-Ahead Instructions: Pipe churro batter onto a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Leave space between the pieces. Freeze until ready to use! To cook, drop the frozen strips of churro dough into the piping-hot oil.

👩🏻‍🍳 Recipe FAQ

These are the most commonly-asked questions for making the BEST Disneyland churros, and the most helpful answers for recipe success.

😋 More Delicious Treats

If you enjoy making and serving treats like churros, that are both delicious and unique, try these bakery-style desserts. You’ll impress your family and friends.

• Palmiers Cookies
• Lemon Biscotti Cookies
• Vanilla Creme Sandwich Cookies
• Whoopie Pies
• Madelines
• Pastry Cream Tartlets

Rate This Recipe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Friends say these Mexican churros taste exactly the same as Disneyland churros served in Frontierland. At a party I hosted last winter, they were thrilled to sample these authentic Mexican treats. Everyone was clamoring for this easy recipe.

If you agree this recipe’s a keeper, give it a 5-star rating in the comments. Then be a recipe hero. Share it with friends. 📌 Pin it to Pinterest.

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Disneyland Churros 👉🏻 Join the Convo

Have you experienced the joy of eating warm, freshly-made churros purchased from a churro cart? Were they Disneyland churros, or treats you enjoyed in Mexico? Share your thoughts about this easy recipe in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you.