Bucket List Activity #15: Churros con Chocolate COMPLETE!



Attempt #1: Churros con Chocolate

Today I decided to complete one of the activities on my Spanish bucket list: making homemade churros and chocolate.

Here in Spain, churros con chocolate is a very popular treat that people oftentimes have for breakfast, a snack or dessert. The churros are fried and sometimes sprinkled with sugar and they can be made two different ways, with a thinner shape, or with a longer and thicker shape (this is called porra).  When eating the churros, they are dipped in thick, hot chocolate. This chocolate is nothing like the hot chocolate we normally consume in America.


My First Encounter



Churros and chocolate is definitely one of my favorite Spanish treats. I was introduced to it for the first time in October when my friends were shocked that I’d never had it and immediately took me to try some. We went to Valor, one of the most popular chocolate factories in Spain, and the churros con chocolate were so delicious. Unfortunately though, I was not able to finish all of my chocolate because I wasn’t accustomed to drinking chocolate so thick and rich. These days however, I have no problems consuming the chocolate or the churros.   

Before starting the churros I knew that it was going to be a little more difficult than what the recipe stated. This was because I didn’t have the piping bag that I needed to squeeze the dough out of. But if there is anything that I’ve learned in Spain, it’s the art of improvisation while cooking, so I didn’t let it bother me too much.

The ingredients that I used for the churros and chocolate were very simple. For the churros I needed water, butter, flour, salt and eggs. For the hot chocolate I needed milk and some solid melting chocolate.


Making the Dough

I made the churros first because I knew that this part was going to be the most time consuming. Once I heated and mixed all of the ingredients together for the churros, I then had to decide how I was going to form them into the correct shape without a piping bag. I decided to use a regular Ziploc bag and make a small hole at the bottom of it so that the churros would form a similar shape. I squeezed the churro dough out of the bag directly into the hot oil. The first couple of churros that I made didn’t turn out that well. They were way too big and they cooked a little too quickly. I then turned the temperature down a bit and tried to better control the way I squeezed the churros out. Afterwards, the churros weren’t perfect but they did come out much better than before. It’s a good thing I had a lot of dough to experiment with!

When the churros were done, I sprinkled them with a little sugar. Sugar is usually optional but I like my churros to have a little sweetness to them. I then started making the hot chocolate.

The hot chocolate was very easy. I added some milk to a small saucepan, let it heat up, cut up the squares of chocolate, and stirred in the chocolate pieces. I used Valor melting chocolate because I knew that the chocolate was going be delicious. I’m happy to admit that in these last couple of weeks I have become a little bit more comfortable with the way that I deal with milk. I’ve never liked milk, and although I usually have a little milk in my coffee, I can’t stand touching it, smelling it, and I certainly couldn’t drink it by itself or even have it with cereal. Just thinking about it has always made me kind feel kind of sick. But ever since I’ve been making Spanish hot chocolate, I have become more comfortable with using it for that purpose.

Valor Melting Chocolate

After heating and stirring the milk-chocolate mixture until it was dark and thick, the churros con chocolate was finally ready. I sat down to enjoy it and, although I had made a lot, I only ended up eating 2 churros and maybe a tenth serving of the hot chocolate that I had prepared. Both were actually very good, but I wasn’t that hungry because I had to sample some of the churros while I was cooking.  In addition, the sweet/oily aroma in the air actually made me less inclined to want to eat.

Considering it was my first time making this treat, I think that I did pretty well. Without the technical difficulties (lack of proper baking supplies) the churros would have turned out a lot better. But ultimately the taste is what really matters and the churros and chocolate tasted very good. I just wish I had more of an appetite to enjoy them at the end.

I definitely plan to perfect this recipe while in Spain so that when I go back to the states I can share it with my family and friends.


Enjoying the Churros and Chocolate in Granada