Drop what you're doing and make these homemade churros immediately! They're crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside with a generous dusting of cinnamon coconut sugar goodness. These vegan churros are made gluten-free with just a few simple pantry staples. They're baked to perfection and sure to be on repeat all fall long!
Cinnamon Coconut Sugar Vegan Churros
A good churro can be hard to come by. The best churro I've ever had was in a small bakery in Spain. Disney World is also supposed to have some BOMB churros. But sometimes I want a churro in the comfort of my own home - am I right? Well, look no further because these homemade churros are next level amazing! Plus, they're made paleo-friendly, vegan, and gluten-free which I bet you never thought was possible with a churro 😉 .
Gluten-free Baked Churros
To put a deeper healthy-ish twist on these churros, they're baked not fried. We still get that 'fried dough' feeling without all the excess grease. I'd like to thank coconut oil for that. To bake, we simple pipe the dough onto a baking sheet into long churro shapes (feel free to get creative with your shapes!), brush a little coconut oil on top, and bake them in the oven et voila, easy baked churros that are drop-deep delicious.
Vegan Churro Ingredients
To make these baked churros, you need just a couple gluten-free pantry staples:
- Coconut oil - this is what provides the moisture. It also ensures a crispy, golden brown outside when brushed on top of the dough.
- Coconut sugar - for sweetness. The dough itself has a touch of sweetness from the coconut sugar and we use this for the cinnamon coating on the outside.
- Almond flour + Tapioca flour - this is the base of our churros. The combination of almond and tapioca flour makes a fluffy yet structured texture perfect for baked churros!
- Cinnamon - used in our coconut sugar coating.
How to Make Vegan Churros
This churro recipe is so simple and easy you'll want to put 'bake churros' on your weekend to-do list pronto.
- First, heat the water, coconut sugar, and coconut oil until it reaches a simmer.
- Next, pull the skillet off the element and stir in the dry ingredients until a sticky dough forms.
- After the dough has cooled for a couple minutes, fill a pipping bag fit with a large star-shaped tip (like this one) and pipe long stokes onto a baking sheet. You can get creative with the shape, I did a traditional straight and long churro. Brush each with a little melted coconut oil and bake in the oven.
- Once baked, quickly roll the each churro in a deep dish with cinnamon and coconut sugar. It's important to do this while the churros are still warm as the heat will allow the cinnamon mixture to stick.
The Best Way to Serve Churros
- Warm, fresh out of the oven. Churros are best served warm. I recommend baking these right before you are wanting to enjoy them. See below section for how to make them ahead of time.
- Coated in a sweet sugar mixture. A churro isn't a churro if it's not covered in sugar. We use a combination of sweet cinnamon and coconut sugar to acheive a subtly sweet coating for our churros.
- With chocolate. Like many things, churros are made even better dipped in hot melted chocolate. I recommend melting your favorite dark chocolate and dunking in your fresh churros (you can double-dip, we won't tell).
These churros are best served fresh out of the oven. However, you can prep the dough ahead of time if serving these at a gathering or party. Simply make the dough as instructed below and store in a zip-lock bag at room temperature. When ready to bake, transfer the dough to a pipping bag and pipe onto a baking sheet to bake.
The tapioca flour simple assists in "cutting" the density from the almond flour. Arrowroot starch or corn starch will also work as an alternative.
Although I have not tried this, I would recommend substituting gluten-free 1:1 baking flour in place of the almond flour if needed. This recipe will not work the same with oat flour.
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Vegan Churros with Cinnamon Coconut Sugar
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 18
- Total Time: 33 minutes
- Yield: 8 - 10 Large Churros 1x
- Category: Doughnuts
- Method: Baje
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Drop what you're doing and make these homemade churros immediately! They're crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside with a generous dusting of cinnamon coconut sugar goodness. These vegan churros are made gluten-free with just a few simple pantry staples. They're baked to perfection and sure to be on repeat all fall long!
Ingredients
For the Churros
- 1 cup water
- 2 Tbsp coconut sugar
- 3 Tbsp coconut oil
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1 cup tapioca flour
For the Coating
- ⅓ cup coconut sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
For the Chocolate Dipping Sauce
- ⅓ cup dark chocolate chips (melted)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F. Heat the water, coconut sugar, and coconut oil in a skillet oven medium heat until it reaches a simmer. Take the skillet off the element. Stir in the almond flour and tapioca flour until sticky dough forms; set aside to cool for a couple minutes
- Transfer dough to a pipping bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper in long lines (or alternative shape). Brush with additional 1 Tbsp melted coconut oil and bake for 18 - 20 minutes until golden brown
- Prepare the cinnamon coating while the churros are baking. Mix the coconut sugar and cinnamon in a shallow baking pan
- While churros are still warm, place in the shallow baking dish and toss to coat
- Serve warm with melted chocolate and enjoy!
Keywords: vegan churro, gluten-free churro, healthy churro, baked churros
Can i sub tapioca flour by spelt or buckwheat?
Hi Dana! So the tapioca flour is used to make the churros fluffy on the inside. I don't think spelt or buckwheat would be great replacements. Arrowroot starch would be the best substitute or you could do corn starch.