Missing the Costco churro? Here’s an even better copycat recipe

Once you make them homemade, you won’t miss the Costco churro so much.

It’s the great Costco outcry of 2024. Ever since a popular menu item went missing, food court customers are in mourning. The churro is out! A warm chocolate chip cookie takes it’s place – a trade that has left some of us heartbroken.

The Costco churro may be gone, but you can still get your churro fix by making them at home. Baker Khara Westergard has the solution! She shares her recipe and technique for getting the perfect churro treat at home. She says this recipe will rival both the Costco and Disneyland churro.

Homemade Churros

INGREDIENTS

Churros

• 4 oz. (1/2 C.) Unsalted Butter – cut up for faster melting
• 4 oz. (1/2 C.) Whole Milk* (what you have can work in a pinch)
• 4 oz. (1/2 C.) Water
• 1 Tbsp. (.5 oz.) Granulated Sugar
• 3/8 t. Salt (omit 1/8 t. & a pinch if using salted butter above.)
• 5 oz. (About 1C. Fluffed) “00” Flour or All-Purpose Flour – use a scale for best results
• 3 Large Eggs* (US Large, UK medium) (see notes on egg amounts. Optional, use none or up to 4)

Coating

• 2 C. Ultra-fine Bakers Sugar (or process regular down in a food processor)
• 4-8 Tbsp Cinnamon (preference)

METHOD

1. Combine butter, milk, water, sugar, & salt in a saucepan. Stir over medium heat until simmering.
2. Remove from heat if needed, returning as needed, as you add the flour all at once. Mix well immediately to distribute all the hot liquid evenly. Your mixture will look like mashed potatoes. Continue stirring breaking up any remaining flour lumps over the heat & cooking out some of the liquid. Continue until mixture feels more like play dough, falls away from the sides, & develops a film on the bottom of your pan.
3. Dump into a mixing bowl to cool 5 minutes stirring in short spurts, every so often, to help release heat. Do not leave it mixing for this step, avoid over mixing. I like to leave mixing leeway for the egg additions.
4. While waiting, start oil warming over medium to medium high heat with a thermometer & prep piping tips in bags. See notes on both below.
5. Stir ultra-fine sugar & cinnamon together in a wide bowl or dish.
6. Add eggs 1 at a time (1 egg at a time for a single batch, 2 at a time for a double batch, etc.). Mix well between each addition. Fill pastry bags.
7. Pipe the churros into the hot oil. (See notes on oil temperature below). Once the churros start to look golden brown, pull them out and set on a cooling rack, with a baking sheet underneath to catch the oil. Let cool for a few minutes. Coat in the cinnamon sugar mixture.

*Notes:

Here are my 3 most important tips to fix what most people miss when making churros at home. Trust me, it makes all the difference! (More notes below)

1 – To get the right crunch and softness, use the right number of eggs. The origins of churros started with no eggs. That has no puff and is focused on crunch but is harder to make sure the insides cook through.

Adding an egg helps the insides puff, soften & cook better. Adding more eggs is even fluffier. Shown here we do not exceed 3 eggs in this example video. But the full amount of 4 in regular choux dough is a bit much for our preference (yes, it’s all technically choux, but originally, they didn’t do eggs or dairy). With 4 eggs churros still get crunchy IF you have the right piping tip AND temperature. But 4 eggs loses its shape more often. After our experiments, my husband rates the best egg ratio in order as 3, 4, 2, 1, 0. I might swap 4 & 2 All are still great. Just preference. So, we preferred 3 eggs.

2 – Changing your piping tip to one with deeper teeth for more surface fry area. And a thin but present center. Wilton 1M is a great tip for this. This is what we used shown. It may not be the same look as Disney or Costco churros, but once you taste them, all is forgiven. French tips are a no with the tiny saw teeth & super thick center space. It leaves less crunch and mostly softness. But if you really want that Disney/Costco look, Ateco 847 seems to be the ideal chunkier round tip. It’s still a larger center so it’s softer inside & would be best when making the day before to reheat tomorrow.

3 – Lastly, temperature. The lower the eggs the lower the temperature needed. The No eggs option can dip well below the usual fry spot but not below 325 F to allow time to cook through without burning, the rest should be at least 350 F. But at 3 eggs, I find the sweet spot to be 375-380 be alarmed if it dips to 360. Wait for it to rise again before the next batch. For 4 eggs closer to 390 (but not quite) is better for shape retention but there are still no promises there. Be careful to stay far away from 400 or your oil will burn.

Those 3 tips make them killer!

• Milk is sort of optional if you substitute it with more water. Traditionally only water, oil, and flour were used in churros. Today most prefer a richer puffier more tender dough produced by using dairy (& a bit of sugar). I recommend using dairy if you don’t need dairy free.
• They don’t need dipping sauces at all. But it’s fun to be extra! My vanilla diplomat cream makes a great dip. It’s posted on my Instagram page as vanilla crème. Or here on Studio 5’s site in my segment on choux dough/French pastries. Semi homemade sauces right here. Easy & delicious:

Dulce de Leche sauce for dipping: Empty 1 can Nestle La Lechera Dulce de Leche into a microwave safe bowl. Warm 15 seconds, stir, warm 10 sec., stir. Add 4 oz. (1/2 C) Heavy cream, stir. Warm in short bursts to aid incorporation stirring between. Add 1/2 Tbsp. Clear Vanilla, & 1/8 + 1/16 tsp. Salt.

Simple chocolate sauce for dipping: Melt your choice of chocolate with enough heavy cream to let it run nicely off your spoon. Amount of cream varies for chocolate brand, & type of chocolate (dark, milk, etc.). But milk & white chocolates take 1/4-1/3 of their weight in cream. Dark & semi sweet or bittersweet take around 1/2 or more. I like to add a pinch of salt & vanilla in proportion to cream used. 1/4 t. Vanilla per 1/4 C. Cream. Or 1/2 t. Vanilla per 1/2 C. Cream. Etc.

Gluten-Free Adjustments: Sub flour for a mixture of 3.5 oz. Bob’s Red Mill GF 1to1 baking flour (blue bag, NOT RED), 1 oz. Sorghum Flour (found at Whole Foods or Amazon), 1 oz. Expandex (Amazon).

Add an extra egg, to preference.

At every stage, mix just enough to combine ingredients. GF flour does best with minimal mixing.

*If unable to get Expandex, try subbing with .5 oz extra GF Flour, & .6 oz (2 Tbsp) Corn Starch.

Find more recipes and inspiration from Khara on Instagram, @balsamicbaker.