Description
Celebrate the holidays with festive Christmas Tree Churros, featuring crispy fried dough piped into charming tree shapes, coated in cinnamon sugar, and topped with a rich chocolate ganache and colorful sprinkles. Perfect for a fun and delicious dessert or snack that will impress guests of all ages.
Ingredients
Scale
Dough
- 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter
- 1 cup water
- 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (120 g.)
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 2 large eggs
- Cooking spray
Frying
- Vegetable oil, 4 to 6 cups (for frying)
Ganache
- 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (85 g.)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
Toppings
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar (100 g.)
- 1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
- Red and green sprinkles and/or white nonpareils (for decorating)
Instructions
- Prepare dough: In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, water, and 2 tablespoons sugar; bring to a boil. Stir in vanilla extract, then remove from heat. Add flour and salt, stirring vigorously until the mixture thickens and forms a dough, about 30 seconds. Let cool for 10 minutes.
- Add eggs: Using a handheld mixer on medium speed, beat in eggs one at a time, fully blending each before adding the next, until dough is smooth and glossy.
- Prepare piping guides: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and grease with cooking spray. Using cookie cutters or a ruler, trace 3 circles of 2 1/2 inches, 3 circles of 2 inches, 3 circles of 1 1/2 inches, and 3 circles of 1 inch in diameter on the parchment.
- Pipe churros: Transfer dough to a large piping bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe dough over the traced circles, leaving space in the center for the largest and medium sizes as instructed. Add 3 dollops of dough about the size of Hershey’s Kisses separately on the sheet. Freeze the sheet until dough is firm, at least 2 hours or up to overnight.
- Heat oil: Pour vegetable oil into a large Dutch oven to a depth of 3 inches and heat over medium-high until oil reaches 375°F (190°C) on a deep-fry or instant-read thermometer.
- Make ganache and cinnamon sugar: Place chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl. Microwave heavy cream until bubbles form around 1 minute, then pour over chocolate. Let sit 30 seconds, then stir until smooth. In a separate bowl, combine remaining 1/2 cup sugar and ground cinnamon.
- Fry churros: Fry the 3 largest churro circles in oil, turning once, until golden brown, about 2 to 2 1/2 minutes per side. Remove, drain excess oil, then toss in cinnamon sugar. Place on a wire rack set over a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining churros and Hershey’s Kiss-shaped dollops, which fry in about 1 minute.
- Assemble trees and serve: On a serving platter, stack churros from largest to smallest—start with 2 1/2 inch ones, then 2 inch, then 1 1/2 inch, and finally 1 inch on top. Drizzle 2 to 3 spoonfuls of chocolate ganache over each stacked tree and decorate with red, green, and white sprinkles.
Notes
- Make sure to freeze the piped dough thoroughly to prevent shapeless frying.
- Use a deep-fry thermometer for accurate oil temperature to ensure churros cook evenly and absorb less oil.
- Adjust frying time slightly depending on oil temperature and size of churro shapes.
- For a dairy-free version, substitute butter with a vegan alternative and use coconut cream instead of heavy cream in the ganache.
- Store leftover churros in an airtight container and reheat briefly in the oven to restore crispiness.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 350 kcal
- Sugar: 22 g
- Sodium: 230 mg
- Fat: 22 g
- Saturated Fat: 10 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 10 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 35 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 70 mg
