These Air Fryer Churros are homemade churros made with just 4 ingredients and coated in cinnamon sugar. They are also egg-free and dairy-free, and you don’t need a piping bag to shape them!
It’s almost Cinco de Mayo, and what’s better than churros to celebrate? After baking so many types of dough in my air fryer like my banana donut holes, or 2-ingredient donuts, I thought it was time to experiment with churros.
Churros are similar to Vegan Beignets, but the dough doesn’t require any yeast so they are much easier to whip up.
Why You Will Love This Churro Recipe
I can guarantee everyone will love them, and nobody will guess it’s a better-for-you recipe and it’s:
- Healthier – less oil than deep-fried churros, which means fewer calories and less saturated fat.
- Faster – You don’t have prewarm oil or discard a large amount of oil at the end.
- Egg-free
- Dairy-free
- Just 3 ingredients for the dough
Ingredients and Substitutions
- All-Purpose Flour – I am using classic flour. You can use white wheat or white spelt. I didn’t try gluten-free flour, but it might work as well.
- Boiling Water – I simply boil tap water over the stove. Some recipes use milk but I didn’t notice a big difference in taste or texture using soy milk or almond milk, so I recommend water. It’s cheap and it make the churros crispy.
- Avocado Oil – This is my favorite oil because it’s so good for you. It is packed with a good balance of omega fatty acids, and it also has a high smoke point. But, you can use any oil you have at home, like canola oil, light olive oil, or even melted vegan butter or margarine.
- Sugar – or any crystal sweetener to sweeten the dough, like coconut sugar or brown sugar.
Optional Ingredients
- A pinch of salt – add at the same time you add the flour.
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract – add to the boiled water, not before boiling as it would evaporate.
How to Make Air Fryer Churros
- Before you start, measure flour in a bowl, stir in sugar. Set aside, next to you, so you have your bowl ready.
- In a medium non-stick saucepan, add the cup of water, and oil or plant-based butter.
- Place over medium-high heat, cover with a lid, and bring to a boil.
- When the water reaches a high boil, remove from the heat, remove the lid, pour the flour in one go, and stir energetically with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.
- It looks crumbly at first, but it quickly comes into an elastic dough ball. Transfer the dough ball on a lightly oiled surface and let it cool down for 5 minutes, or until easy to handle by hand.
- Roll the churros dough into a cylinder.
Tip: This churro dough won’t pipe well at all, it’s too difficult to push through a piping bag. You need to work it by hand without adding any flour.
- Use a sharp knife to cut out pieces of the cylinder vertically and form small logs of dough of about 1/2 an inch in thickness.
- Oil your hands, slightly roll each log into longer logs – about 4-inch long (10cm). Use the back of a fork to press the four sides of the log and mark prints with the fork. This is optional, you can air fry the churros without marks if you find this step too tricky.
- Lightly oil the air fryer basket with cooking oil.
- Place the churros in the air fryer basket, leaving half a thumb of space between each – they won’t expand in the air fryer, but you don’t want them to stick or touch each other.
- Use a pastry brush or cooking spray to oil the churros on all their sides.
- Air fry the churros at 400°F (200°C) for 15 minutes, flipping them halfway. They are ready when they have a light golden brown color. If not, keep air frying by extra 1 minute until they are crispy out the edges. The cooking time depends on the size of the churros. Mini churros air fry faster.
- Cinnamon sugar is a must for churros. Prepare the blend while the churros are in the air fryer. Simply stir sugar and cinnamon in a mixing bowl. Set it aside.
- Remove the warm churros from the air fryer and place on a baking sheet or large plate covered with parchment paper.
- Brush melted plant-based butter or avocado oil on their surface while warm. Then, toss churros in cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Let the churros cool down on a plate for 5 minutes before eating.
Serving
Serve the churros with some dessert dipping sauce like:
- Vegan ganache or simply make a chocolate sauce: melt 1/4 cup of dark chocolate chips and a teaspoon of coconut oil.
- Date caramel or caramel sauce
- Vegan Whipped Cream
Frequently Asked Questions
If you have a strong piping bag, you may manage to push down churros in the bag. I didn’t enjoy this method; the dough is a bit hard to push, and I won’t recommend that option unless you have a strong pastry bag and a very large nozzle. If you want to try, use a pastry bag fitted with a large star-shaped tip. Place dough in the bag when still lukewarm in the bag. Pipe dough into churros, and cut with scissors when you push out the length of dough you like.
You can, but if you don’t, you will simply air fryer the churros a bit longer, which is my favorite option because I found it unsafe to place the churros in the warm basket without burning myself.
Yes, you can double up the recipe, but always air fry in small batches. You should have space between each churro, they shouldn’t touch each other in the basket.
More Air Fryer Desserts
Did You Like This Recipe?
Leave a comment below or head to our Facebook page for tips, our Instagram page for inspiration, our Pinterest for saving recipes, and Flipboard to get all the new ones!
Air Fryer Churros
Ingredients
- 1 cup All-Purpose Flour - (note 1)
- 2 tablespoons Oil - (note 2)
- 1 cup Boiled Water - (note 3)
- 1 tablespoon Sugar - (note 4)
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, stir flour and sugar. Set aside.
- Add the water and oil in a non-stick saucepan.
- Bring to medium-high heat until it reaches a high boil.
- When the water boils, remove the lid and remove from the heat.
- Immediately pour the flour and stir energetically with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to form a soft, elastic dough ball.
- Lightly oil a work surface, place the dough ball on it, and let it cool down for 5 minutes or until safe to touch by hand.
- Roll into a cylinder – see pictures above for help. Use a sharp knife to cut the cylinder into 8 pieces.
- Roll each piece of churro dough into 5-inch long logs.
- Using a fork, press marks all over the surface of each log to mimic the churro shape. It won't mark as well as piping, but it's easier than piping the dough. (note 5 for piping dough).
- Spray cooking oil on the air fryer basket.
- Place each churro in the air fryer basket, and make sure they don't touch each other.
- Air fry for 15 minutes at 400°F (200°C), flipping the churros halfway until they are light golden brown.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl, prepare the cinnamon-sugar mixture by stirring the cinnamon and sugar evenly. Set aside.
- Remove the warm churros from the air fryer and place them on a baking sheet. Spray cooking oil on all sides of each churro, then toss in cinnamon sugar to coat.
I tried this with gluten free all purpose flour, came out deliciously! I would recommend, although do tweak the cooking time a bit, 20—25 minutes
Great!!! Thanks for letting me know!
can these be cooked in the oven
Sure, bake in the oven on a line baking sheet. Preheat oven to 350 F( 180C), spray oil on the churros and bake for 18-22 minutes, until golden and crispy.
Easy to make and fun to make only four ingredients. If you don’t have an oven or if your oven is broken, this recipe is what you need. Your hole family will love it no matter how big or small. You will love it.
Do these need to be cooked directly on the metal tray, no liner?
Yes, straight on the basket’s mesh!
Very nice and easy recipe..surely gonna try..thank you
What temperature
400°F (200°C)! Sorry it was in a few places but not in the recipe card 🙂
Loved it! Soo easy, crunchy, sweet and filling!
Thank you!!
Can you make this with almond flour?
I haven’t made it work with almond flour.
Thank for recipe
Thank you!!!
Yes! Loved these churros. All gone.