Surprisingly easy to make, these decadent churro ice cream sandwiches are covered in a cinnamon-sugar coating that is beyond delicious! Use your favorite ice cream between two homemade churros for one of the most irresistible desserts you will ever make!
Churros are one of my all-time favorite sweet treats. And while I love this apple snickers salad dessert, these homemade cranberry cookies, and a good old fashioned apple crumble, these churro ice cream sandwiches are also at the top of my list! When you put churros and ice cream together, the flavor combination is out-of-this world delicious! And similar to these cinnamon twists, this is an incredibly easy churro recipe to make!
Churros are fried dough pastries that are rigid in texture due to the piping technique used. Once formed, they are deep-fried until crunchy and then rolled in a cinnamon-sugar coating. Churros can be formed into straight lines or coiled into different shapes.
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ℹ️ Why This Recipe Works
1. No deep fryer required!
2. Uses simple ingredients and is easy to make.
3. These churro ice cream sandwiches are creative and fun to make! You can customize the flavor with whatever ice cream you want and you can also include different types of cookies, sprinkles, chocolate chips, and more!
🛒 Ingredients You'll Need
For the Churro Dough:
- Sugar – adds the sweet taste in the dough.
- Water – bringing water to a boil helps bind together the sugar, salt, flour, and oil.
- Salt – a flavor enhancer also used to cut some of the sweetness.
- Canola oil – lubrication and binding agent. It's also used for deep frying the churros.
- All-purpose flour – the base ingredient used when making churros.
- Ice Cream – provides a creamy and delicious filling between the 2 churros.
For the Cinnamon-Sugar Coating:
- White granulated sugar – provides sweetness for the outer coating.
- Ground cinnamon – flavor enhancer that should be mixed with the sugar.
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
📋 Variations
- Deep Frying: Use either a deep dryer or a deep skillet to deep fry the churros.
- Best Oils for Deep Frying: Canola, vegetable, and grapeseed oil are the best for deep frying.
- Switch Up the Flavors: While vanilla ice cream is most loved, try using mint chocolate chip, chocolate, strawberry, or rocky road! This pumpkin flavored gelato also works really well!
- Make Different Shapes: You can coil the churro dough into a circle or use different shape cookie cutters to make fun shapes!
- Add Some Sauce: Drizzle on the chocolate, caramel, or strawberry sauce!
🔪 Step-By-Step Recipe Instructions
Step 1: In a saucepan, combine the water, sugar, salt, and oil. Bring to a boil and then remove the pan from the heat.
Step 2: Stir in the flour and mix well.
Step 3: Once the ingredients are well combined, form the dough into a ball.
👩🍳 Chef's Note: This step is straightforward and happens quickly, within about thirty seconds.
Step 4: Remove the dough from the saucepan and form it into a large ball. The dough will be hot, so let it cool on a clean counter for about 15-20 minutes before piping.
Step 5: Once the dough has cooled, fill a piping bag with the churro dough.
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👩🍳 Chef's Note: For larger coils, use the Ateco tip #829 in the piping bag. To form smaller churro coils, use an Open Star Tip #1M(2110).
Step 6: Using a steady hand, pipe the dough into the desired shape and place them on parchment paper.
Step 7: In a large deep skillet, heat 2 quarts of oil. Use a candy thermometer to gauge the temperature of the oil.
Step 8: When the oil reaches 375°F, place the churro coil on a stainless steel spatula and place it in the hot oil. Make sure the coil is completely submerged and fry until golden. This takes about 20 -30 seconds.
Step 9: Then, remove the churro and place on a paper towel to dry. Complete this process for the other three churros.
Step 10: In a small bowl, mix the ground cinnamon and sugar and pour it onto a clean surface. Take the churro and coat both sides in the cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Step 11: Take a scoop of your favorite ice cream and place it on one of the churros. Place the other churro on top.
You now you have a churro ice cream sandwich! Try rolling it in some sprinkles to make it even more fun!
🙋 Recipe FAQs
You can use any tip you want, but I find that the Ateco tip #829 really makes piping easy and provides the rigid churro shape.
There's a lot of reasons why this happens. It could be because the dough gets clogged in the tip, the temperature of the dough, or the dough could be a little too thick.
When coiling the dough, strive to finish a coil in one clean swipe. If the dough breaks, pick up where you left off and pinch together with your fingers. This makes the churros a little more fragile when frying, but you can still get away with a nice coil shape.
💭 Expert Tips
- Frying Churros - for best results and to avoid breakage, only fry 1 churro at a time.
- Piping the dough – if using a piping bag, tie the filled bag with a rubber band. This ensures the dough doesn’t seep out of the top while piping.
- Tools – Using a metal spatula works well for me. Using metal tongs to deep fry the coils can be a little more tricky and tends to break the coils. Never use a plastic spatula. It will melt in the oil.
- Decorating – create more fun by rolling the churro ice cream sandwich in sprinkles.
- Cookie Cutters – Around Valentine’s Day, I pull out the large heart-shaped cookie cutter and pipe the dough. Be creative and use different shapes!
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Churro Ice Cream Sandwiches
Equipment
- 16 Inch piping bag fitted
- Rounded star tip. Recommend Ateco tip #829 or Open Star Tip #1M(2110)
- Candy or heat resistant thermometer
- Large stainless steel spatula
- Deep frying skillet or deep fryer
- Cookie Cutters, optional
Ingredients
To Make The Dough
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup water
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
- 2 quarts vegetable or canola oil, for frying
- 2 scoops ice cream, your favorite flavor
Cinnamon Sugar Topping
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
Instructions
Step 1: Preparing The Dough
- In a small saucepan combine 1 cup of water, ½ cup of sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, and 2 Tablespoons of oil. Bring to a boil and then remove from heat.
- Stir in 1 cup of flour and form a ball. It is very simple and happens quickly, approximately 30 seconds. Set aside to cool.
- Once cooled, stuff the piping bag with the dough. With the pastry bag, pipe strips of dough into 4 coils to create 2 ice cream sandwiches, about the size of a sand dollar on parchment paper.
Step 2: Frying
- Heat oil to 375°F. Verify with the thermometer.
- One at a time, put these dough coils on a large stainless steel spatula. Place the dough in the hot oil and fry until golden. This takes about 20 -30 seconds.
Once fried, place on paper towels to dry.
Step 3: Finishing The Churros
- After the churro coils have dried, roll in the mixture of 2 Tablespoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon for a light coating.
- Take a scoop of your favorite ice cream and place on one of the coils. Place the other churro coil on top.
- Now you have a Churro Ice Cream Sandwich! I rolled the churros in some sprinkles to make it more fun!
Notes
-
- Frying Churros - for best results and to avoid breakage, only fry 1 churro at a time.
-
- Piping the dough – if using a piping bag, tie the filled bag with a rubber band. This ensures the dough doesn’t seep out of the top while piping.
-
- Tools – Using a metal spatula works well for me. Using metal tongs to deep fry the coils can be a little more tricky and tends to break the coils. Never use a plastic spatula. It will melt in the oil.
-
- Decorating – create more fun by rolling the formed churro ice cream sandwich in sprinkles. Dipping the sandwiches in chocolate is also amazingly delicious!
-
- Cookie Cutters – Around Valentine’s Day, I pull out the large heart-shaped cookie cutter and pipe the dough. Be creative and use different shapes!
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Enter your email to receive this recipe, along with weekly food inspiration!
Ann
Wow, this sounds super yummy! A great summer treat! Thanks for the recipe share, excited to give it a try!
Amanda Mason
Enjoy!
Cindy Gordon
We are always looking for new recipes to try as a family. It has helped our kids to expand what they eat being involved in this. We found your recipe and are adding it to next week's menu to try! YUM Can't go wrong with dessert!
Amanda Mason
Hi Cindy! I cant wait to hear how you like this one!! Please let me know how they turn out and I know the kids are going to love it!!